Tempest
by Calla Wright
Summary: Andrea always knew there was something wrong with her, but never knew exactly what until she meets Xavier and his students, as well as the charming but dangerous Alex Summers. Rated M for swearing, violence and sexual themes. Alex. S/ OC
1. One Kill Too Many

Andrea Cartwell had always known there was something wrong with her.

When she was in the ten years old her class had visited the city's energy lab, she had felt it. Something stirring inside her, an electrical current waiting to break free. She was scared, and her fear somehow harnessed it. Within moments the lab was on fire, a mysterious shock wave having started it by passing straight through the little girl.

Now, seven years later, she was living the only life she learned she could. On her own.

She kept to herself most of the time, ever since her incidents. She couldn't be afraid, even though it could come so easily. Her curse activated on an almost weekly basis.

Only just yesterday she had been walking home, deciding to take the back alley to her shit apartment, when she'd felt someone behind her, following her.

Turning around she saw a man, scruff of a beard on his face, eyes cold and black. He grabbed her shoulder and rammed her into the brick wall, the force nearly knocking her unconscious.

"Gimme your money, bitch!" he'd yelled, whipping a gun out and pointing it at her head. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe- the fear had started working again, stronger this time. It wasn't the first she'd been faced with a weapon either, her innocent figure was prey to cowards with armory. At five foot six, a slim cherry blonde like her didn't stand a chance on any given day.

But when she was afraid...

"I said give me your fucking money!" he yelled, bits of spit flying into her face. She whimpered, but it was too late, the fear had burst and she saw the bolt of energy shoot out and strike the man straight in the gut. His mouth fell open in a perfect "O", and for a moment the energy hung there over his body as the life slowly left his eyes. It's crackling seemed to dim as her fear slowly subsided, and then she was running, desperate to get as far away from the crime seen as she could.

When she returned to her apartment, she ran into the tiny bathroom to wash the blood off her face: when the man had been blasted, his insides had splattered everywhere, what part of him wasn't left burnt to a crisp. She couldn't help it- she started crying, her tears mixing with the man's blood on her face as they dripped and ran down the sink. _Too many_ she thought desperately _I've killed too many people this way... _The fact that it had always been in self defense had stopped crossing her mind ages ago. You can only kill so many people before you start blaming yourself.

It was morning, and as Andrea opened her eyes she blue sky out her window. She had nearly forgotten the previous night's incident when she caught sight of the bloody rag that was her clothes in the corner of the room. Her breath caught in her throat when suddenly she heard a sharp rap on the door. The knot in her chest tightened, and she sat up quickly, her oversized t shirt and boxer shorts hanging off her lean frame as she walked quickly over to the door, tying her hair up into a sloppy pony tail as she went.

She opened the door a crack, and the first thing she saw was a blinding blue eye. Looking up and asking _Please, please don't let this be bad_, to whoever might be listening, she opened the door and put on her best drowsy smile.

In the hall outside stood two men, both dressed rather sharply in long coats and shiny shoes. Both brunettes, one smiled at her, the other looked around rather stern and uncomfortably to be in such a poor looking building.

"Hello. Andrea Cartwell, I presume?" asked the smiling man, his blue eyes twinkling.

She felt her stomach drop. If they knew her name they must know something about the incident the previous night.

"Who are you?" she asked in her most nonchalant voice, trying to doll up the innocence so many criminal seemed to find in her.

"Charles Xavier." the man smiled. He smiled to much.

"And you?" she asked the other man, who finally brought his gaze to hers.

"Erik Lensherr." he said, a bored tone in his voice. Andrea took them in, trying to see if they were wearing any detective badges she might have missed. She couldn't find any so she kept playing along.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe in she hoped to be a carefree manner.

_Actually, we were hoping you could help us._

She jumped. She could have sworn the voice had been inside her head, but it was in Xavier's voice. That wasn't possible, surely, but before she had time to over think it she heard a sound.

There was a soft _ding_ from behind and the elevator doors opened into her hallway. Out stepped two men, dressed in navy blue attire that Andrea could only recognize so well.

The police.

"Hey!" one of them called, starting a slow jog toward them, and Andrea's heart thudded frightfully. "Step away from the girl, men, get away from her!" he called.

_I'll take care of this._ The voice said again, and her mind whirrled. What was going on? Who were these men and what did they want from her? And why were the police here? Where they going to arrest her? What did he mean "take care of it"?

The cops were rushing now, trying to get to the group and Andrea was slowly closing her door.

"Don't go anywhere miss, you get back out here!" one of the cops yelled, but just as they were about to shove past Charles and Erik something happened.

Time seemed to slow down. The next thing Andrea knew, the cops had stopped in mid run. Charles had two fingers to his head, and suddenly, his face a mask of concentration, time seemed to speed up again, but the police had stopped running.

"We'll take it from here gentlemen." Charles said calmly to the two police. "You may report back to your stations that there was nothing to see."

Nodding the two police disappeared around the corner back into the elevator, and down the shaft. Andrea turned to the two men standing at her door.

"Who are you people?" she whispered. Charles let out a sigh.

"We..." he said, casting a glance at Erik, "are one of you."


	2. A New Home

**Just a small heads up that this story won't be **_**exactly **_**like the movie, there are going to be some changed according to the script to adjust around Andrea, so it won't be as canon as it could be. **

**-Cal**

The jet was massive, and Andrea couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong.

Charles and Erik sat across from her in their plush leather seats, talking quietly over a stack of papers that had apparently just "arrived from the lab" that morning.

After their intervention with the police, the men had taken her back inside her apartment where they proceeded to explain everything.

"_I'm a mutant?" Andrea asked, repeating the fact they had stated just moments ago._

"_You shouldn't say it so harshly." smiled Charles, leaning back in his seat. "There are several more people out there like you, just not with the same gift."_

"_You call this a gift?" she asked exasperated, gesturing around her to the crappy apartment. "This is all I've gotten thanks to my powers. It's brought me nothing but pain. I'm a monster." she spat, crossing her arms and avoiding the eye contact of the two men in the room. _

"_Andrea-"_

"_I prefer Rea, actually." she said bluntly. Charles sighed._

"_Rea, we're familiar with the... incident, that took place five years ago, but we must assure you that it was not your fault. Your power only activates when you feel you're in danger, and we think that if we could harness that, maybe do a few blood tests, then it would extend our knowledge into the complexity of your mutation."_

"_I'm not interested in what you're selling." she said coldly. Suddenly Erik leaned forwards across the table and looked her square in the eye. _

"_The police aren't just going to give up on your case. You're a prime suspect now that they've started to piece two and two together. In a matter of days you'll be on the run for your life. You have nowhere else to go."_

_The silence ricocheted across the apartment as they stared each other down. Finally, she looked away. _

"_This... place you would take me." she started and Charles' eyes lit up. "It's safe. You can teach me to control my powers... and no one will get hurt?"_

_Charles nodded. "Absolutely."_

_Andrea let out a sigh. _

"_I'll get my bags."_

So now she sat, miles over the ocean, sipping an ice cold Pepsi, hurtling off to God knows where in a plane probably more expensive then anything she'd ever touched in her entire life, accompanied by two men who could control minds and move metal.

She must be insane.

"Where exactly are we headed again?" she asked, interrupting the mens muttered conversation.

"England." Charles smiled.

"Anywhere specific?"

"That's all you need to know right now." Erik said flatly.

"When we touch down it's not a long drive to the manor." Charles explained. "Our scientist Hank will be able to take some blood samples, and then we'll get introductions over with. I'm hoping to start the training as soon as possible."

"Introductions? Exactly how many of these other mutants are there?"

"Counting you, there are five young mutants at the facility." Charles explained. "I think you'll get along with the rest of them just fine."

Three hours later, Andrea was startled awake but the bump of wheels touching down on tarmac. "We're here." Erik said, and she stood up to follow them out of the plane. Waiting below was a gleaming black car, something you'd see celebrities riding around in the back of, and once again she questioned exactly how much money Charles Xavier had. Looking at the two men she noticed how sharply dressed they were, and then glancing down at herself; dark jeans, faded red tee shirt and ballet flats, she almost felt like trash. Tugging her grey cardigan around her shoulders tightly, she accepted the open door to the car, and slid in onto the sleek black interior.

The manor was massive, bigger then anything she'd ever seen.

"There was a bit of an incident before we went to find you." Charles explained on the drive over.

"What kind of incident?" Andrea asked, suspicion in her eyes. Charles pulled his necktie so it hung slightly loose around his collar.

"We originally had all the mutants at a CIA base, just to give them time to get to know each other." he started. "Unfortunately not all went well."

"What they got into a fight or something?" she asked, crossing her legs.

"Technically yes, but not with each other." Charles said sadly. "Like I explained earlier, there are other mutants that don't like what we're doing. That want to train them to work for evil."

"Shaw." Andrea said, nodding. Charles had explained all there was to know about the man who had destroyed Erik's family and childhood.

"Exactly. You see, when the others were at the CIA institute... Shaw decided to pay them all a visit. He tried to get them to join him... and one of them even did. Another was killed, before they left."

"Oh my god." Andrea said, covering her mouth in shock. "That's terrible, who would... how could... Jesus, that's just fucking sick!"

Charles quirked an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but it is." she mumbled.

"No matter, it is a terrible loss. But we need to move on past it."

Andrea felt the tires of the car roll onto gravel and she looked up through the window.

"Wow." she breathed, taking in the size and exquisite attire of the manor. Even at night it looked overwhelming. "You've had it rough, haven't you?" she muttered and heard Erik chuckle from behind her.

"The rest of them are probably sleeping by now, but we'll set you up with a room and start everything in the morning." Charles announced as they stepped out of the car. She couldn't stop herself from staring as they entered the grand foyer and she was led up the carpeted stair case to a long hallway. When she opened the door to her new room, she was amazed at how regal it looked, everything from the bed to the windows to the bathroom the size of her old kitchen. She was at a loss for words.

Things were about to get very, very different.

**Sorry it's so short, but I'll try my best to update soon. I'm going to be away from August 1st to 10th, so I won't be able to get anything in between then, but I'll try to manage this between my other fanfic I'm working on. Thanks for all the great feedback, you're all amazing :)**

**-Cal**


	3. Hello Mr President

**Hey guys, so I just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved and subbed to this story: it means a lot. Sorry for the absence of chapters as I just got back from vaca and there was no internet at my grandparents place. Also a huge thanks to AngelicPegasus for correcting me on the placement of the manor, which is incidentally not in England, but in Westchester, New York. I really appreciate it, as I like to make my fanfics as canon as possible, so if anyone sees a mistake let me know, I won't get all weird or offended or anything.**

**xx**

Andrea stirred at the soft rap on the door to her bedroom. Rolling over on the plush mattress, she shoved her head under the pillow and groaned. She was still on L.A. time, and glancing up at the clock on the bedside, New York was already a quarter past eight. Back home she wouldn't be caught up dead at the current pacific time: 5am.

The knock grew louder and even louder still when she ignored it. Finally she let out a moan of frustration, and rolled out of bed, her boxers hanging low off her hips. Shuffling sleepily to the door, she opened it a crack and glanced out into the hall.

There, clad in all his suited glory, was JFK himself.

Rea nearly fell backwards. The President smiled at her and bowed his head.

"Andrea, welcome to the manner." he said kindly. She was briefly aware her mouth was hanging open like a fly trap and was surprised a bug didn't zoom in. Suddenly he let out a laugh, and with a flutter, his whole body was emit with blue scales. The next thing she knew, a beautiful blonde was standing before her, a warm smile etched on her face. Well Andrea was so shocked, that she took a step backwards and almost tripped over the thick carpet.

"W-who..." she stuttered, eyes wide as saucers. "W-what...?" Suddenly her skin began to crackle and she could feel the beginning of her powers start to tremble on her skin.

"Whoa, whoa!" The blonde said, holding her hands up and taking a step into the room.

"I'm a friend, I'm a friend of Charles!"

At the mention of her new mentor's name, Rea was calmed slightly. Enough that the lightning on her skin settled down at least.

"Sorry, I guess that wasn't very funny." the girl said, although she was smiling. "I'm a mutant too." she explained when Rea didn't speak.

"You can change?" she asked, still shell shocked at what she had just witnessed. "Yep. My whole physical appearance and voice, to whomever I please." she beamed, taking a seat on Andrea's bed.

"I'm Raven. But some people call me Mystique."

"Mystique?"

Raven blushed. "It's like our superhero names. Everyone's picked one."

By now Andrea had calmed down slightly and joined Raven on the bed. "Well I guess I'd better think one up too then."

Raven seemed happy by this, now knowing that Rea had calmed down so quickly. "Charles wanted me to come fetch you, since we're the only girls I figured it would be okay. I forgot that he'd mentioned your power comes out when you get freaked out."

Rea nodded, understandly. "We're really the only girls?"

"Well..." she trailed off, a sad look crossing her face. "Yeah. There was another- Angel- but she... well, she picked a new side."

Andrea grimaced. "What exactly happened that night at the base?" she asked, hoping the question wouldn't stir up old nerves. When Raven didn't flinch, Rea took it as a sight that she was going to continue.

"Everything was great..." she started, staring off into space. "All of us were finally together for the first time. It was a total party, showing off powers for everyone. I think it was the first time we all really felt at home. Like we weren't the odd ones out."

Rea smiled softly. She'd felt the same way on the place with Charles and Erik.

"But then Shaw came." she said coldly, and the ice in her voice was as obvious as the two of them in that room. "He tried to convince us to join him. That taking over mankind... revealing ourselves as superiors was the way to go. Angel decided to join him." she said, and now the spite in her voice was even more clear. "Darwin, one of our own, he tried to stop them. He signaled to Alex to shoot, but Shaw caught his power and he... he used it to kill Darwin."

Rea didn't know who Darwin, Alex or even Angel were but she could tell that even in that short time together this had been something that would effect them for the rest of their lives.

"It's been really hard on Alex. He blames himself" she said softly. "Like's he needs more to feel bad about... he already hates his power. And Darwin... it's just terrible."

"It sounds awful." Andrea agreed.

"Yeah... his powers not unlike yours you know." she said, perking up a bit.

"Who's?"

"Alex. Oh, I keep forgetting you haven't met anyone yet. Alex controlled energy just like you do, except he emits it in a slightly different way. Get dressed and I'll take you downstairs to meet everyone."

Twenty minutes later Andrea was showered and clean, while Raven waited by the door. She'd just thrown on the first thing she'd seen in her small suitcase, and even that had been hastily packed. She'd slipped on a navy and white striped bubble dress, and had done her hair off to the side in a quick messy braid. Slipping on some sandals she followed Raven into the corridor and down the grand staircase towards the kitchen.

When they walked in, she was surprised to see it was empty, although there were remnants of a discarded breakfast across the counter top. She eyes a bag of pop tarts on the table and without thinking, her energy immediately crackled to life and zapped the bag. Raven jumped, and Andrea smiled, ripping open the bag and popping a piece into her mouth. She often was able to control her power for little things such as breakfast, but that was pretty much the extent of it.

"Well well well." spoke a voice from behind them. "What the hell do we have here?"

**So again, sorry it's so short, I'll try and get in another one soon! I'm really into Tumblr at the moment, so if you want check out mine and contact me and I'll yours, it's**

**.**


	4. The Chaos He Made

Andrea turned round to see a lanky redhead leaning in the doorway, a grin etched on his face which was covered in freckles.

"Hello gorgeous." he smiled, taking a step into the kitchen. He was wearing a baggy grey sweatsuit and he sauntered over to the fridge helping himself to a carton of milk.

"Good morning to you two, Sean." Raven chuckled mildly. Andrea, slightly tense from the new arrival, relaxed at the calm atmosphere. Guys hitting on her usually kept her jumpy. She never knew when those sweethearts might turn sour.

"I'm Sean. In case you couldn't guess." he said, winking at her before taking a gulp of milk straight from the carton.

"Ew, come on other people drink from that..." Raven murmured, popping her toast.

"I'm Andrea." she said, taking a seat on the edge of the counter, already liking the feeling of home she was getting from the building.

"No shit. I saw Charles last night and he wouldn't stop talking about you."

Both Rea and Raven raised their eyebrows.

"Really?" she asked, curious. "What did he say?"

"Couldn't really make out much of it to be honest..." Sean shrugged, taking a bite of Raven's toast when she wasn't looking.

"Hey!"

"...just kept mumbling something about experimenting with your "charging capabilities." Whatever that means..."

"Well that's comforting." she muttered and he let out a laugh.

"Ooh a sarcastic one! All that L.A. spirit's gonna rub off on us!" he laughed, heading out the door. "Erik wants us out on the grounds for training in twenty minutes by the way. I'll see you guys then!"

The second he'd left hearing range the two girls stole a glance at each other and instantly broke into a fit of giggles.

"Well he's certainly... a charmer? Is that what that was?" Andrea laughed.

"They aren't all that goofy, I promise." Raven snickered, nibbling around Sean's bite mark in her toast.

"Come on, we should get ready."

Fifteen minutes later, Andrea and Raven were standing out on the grounds of the manor, both of them blinking in the morning light. The blondes had found the sweatsuits in the cabinet at one dark end of a hall, but upon seeing them, Raven had been aghast ("They expect us to _wear_ these?") and had fished out two grey spaghetti strap tank tops, one of which she'd lent to Andrea.

"You girls are late." came a voice from behind them, and Andrea turned round to see a brunette guy in glasses and a white lab coat walking up to them. He was almost cute in that nerdy-boy-next-door kind of way. Beside her she felt Raven tense, and then relax and a wide beam spread cross her face.

"Somebody's got a cruuush." she whispered, as Raven whacked her arm. "Ow!"

"Wow Mystique, I've never seen you so violet." the guy joked and Raven blushed scarlet. "There was a bee on her..." she muttered, but the guy had turned to face Andrea.

"You must be Rea." he smiled. "I'm Hank, I work in the labs."

"Oh yeah, Charles told me about you on the plane." she smiled as they shook hands. She saw his eyes drift down to her chest briefly and she quirked and eyebrow as Raven cleared her throat loudly. He started and stood up straighter, dropping her hand hastily.

"Ahem, ah, sorry." he muttered, blushing deeply. "So, um, Raven you're gonna be coming with me to the labs for a bit today." he said, running a hand through his hair. "And Andrea, you're gonna be training with Charles over in the work sheds." He said, pointing to a space behind the manor that Andrea had yet to discover.

"Work sheds" was a bit of an understatement.

As Andrea rounded the wide corner of the manor she saw a what appeared to be a series of warehouses. The long metal half cylinders were laid out side by side, and as she approached them nervously she noticed one had it's door wide open.

She entered it cautiously, peering around on the inside and was surprised to find it looked absolutely nothing like a warehouse at all, in fact the interior seemed more like that of a bunker.

She could hear voices coming through one of the closed doors to her right, and just as she was about to enter, the steel door opened before her and Charles Xavier walked out, looking troubled. When he caught sight of her though, his face brightened instantly and he beamed.

"Andrea, welcome! Perfect timing, I was just going over somethings with another student. I wonder if now would be the time... hmm. Yes it think now would be good. Come, come please take a look!" he said, baffling her as he talked to himself.

He led her over to a glass window covered with a shade.

"Tell me what you think of this." he said, smiling softly to Andrea as he pulled the bottom of the shade and it snapped up, revealing the window.

The glass seemed to look on into a room that was the majority of the warehouse. The long room was curved at the ceilings, thick metal beams supporting it. At the end of the room was a mannequin, a rather damaged looking one at that, missing half an arm and most of it's head. At the other end, she had to blink twice before it would even register.

There was a young man, not much older then herself she guessed, maybe eighteen, and immediately that was what she thought of when she saw him, to call him a boy would be foolish.

He stood, his hands deep in the pockets of the mandatory grey sweatpants, his muscled arms open to the air in his grey hoodie, which he appeared to have ripped the sleeves off of. He had sharp, dominant features, short blonde hair and a look of so many different things. Pain, remorse, regret, confusion, self hate. It almost hurt her to see it on his face.

"Alex, you may begin."

They both jumped, Andrea and Alex, at the sound of Charles' voice over the scratchy intercom, even though he was standing right beside her. She glanced back at Alex through the glass and immediately any old emotion was gone, replaced with nothing but determination.

"Now watch." Charles murmured as she took in what was happening before her.

He started moving himself round, and what instantly caught her sight was the colour. He seemed to almost be glowing, a red aura illuminating his face, damp with perspiration. And next thing he knew the aura had transferred itself into _rings_. Rings of energy were working their way round his body, and for a moment his sweater rode up and she caught a glimpse of his abs, clearly noticeable that send a small shiver through her.

He angled his body expertly, and suddenly the rings few off him, one by one, sailing randomly through the air. For a second, everything seemed to slow down and it was an amazing sight. And then they contacted.

The noise was horrific, a kind of scraping, like metal grinding on metal and there were flames everywhere. She hadn't even noticed she had covered her mouth in shock until she pulled her hands away to take in the damage done to the room. The mannequin was just a sliced heap of plastic and the walls... they were on _fire. _Chaos everywhere, and at the end of the room stood the young man, chest heaving, fists clenched, the one solid thing in the room full of havoc he had created.

"It's time." Charles sighed, giving Andrea a sad smile. She followed him wordlessly to the steel door, placing his hand on the handle before turning back to her.

"Prepare yourself." he murmured.

Pushing open the door and even putting his back into it a bit, Andrea was hit with a wave of heat as they stepped into the room. Alex's back was to them, still the image of intensity, not turning to face his mentor.

"It didn't work." he said bluntly, his voice low, lower then she had expected.

"Well, it will with time Alex. That's why we're practicing. Now, I've brought someone I'd like you to meet." Charles said evenly. He turned, his fist loosening as he took in first Charles and then Andrea. When their eyes met, she swore she saw something in his face change, if only for a second before it returned to it's original stare. But even then it seemed softer.

"Alex, I'd like you to meet Andrea Cartwell. She'd going to be your new partner."

"Wait, _what?_"


	5. Touch

"You're joking right?"

Both mutants were staring at Charles, mouths agape.

"No Alex, I'm definitely not joking." Charles replied, a small smile playing at his lips. "We've been going over a fair bit of both of your DNA at the labs, and we've come to the conclusion that both your powers are stimulated the same way."

"And what might that be?" Andrea said before she could stop herself from letting some sarcasm drip into her tone. Charles fortunately didn't notice.

"Both your powers involve converting matter into energy, in both cases it's more powerful when boosted by your emotions." he said, under the impression that Andrea was now taking an interest in mutant science. "When you become emotionally unstable your power controls you, it's influence more then you've learned to handle. That is what we need to overcome here."

"Emotionally unstable?" Alex asked in a monotone looking irritated.

"Precisely." Charles nodded, still unaware of the discomfort he was causing his students. "In your case Alex, when you become angry or frustrated. Andrea, yours is more alive when you feel fear, or perhaps with other emotions as well we have yet to see."

"Charles, I really don't mean to be a pest, but I don't think this whole partner thing is going to work out." Andrea said softly, breaking Charles's monologue. She couldn't help feeling Alex wasn't really for it either, and the last thing she needed was a hot guy around to keep her jumpy and self conscious all the time.

"Seriously Charles." Alex agreed, causing Andrea to feel half pleasure half disappointment. "You know what I've told you about things like this. I never works out and someone just ends up getting hurt."

"Ah, my friends." Charles smiled, and once again Andrea couldn't help but think that he smiled way too much. "I can assure you, no one is going to get hurt."

"Oh really?" Alex asked, sarcasm leaking into his voice.

"Most definitely. Your results have proven some serious flaws that both of you used to have thanks to a certain disability from your powers, and now we're coming to the conclusion that together, you can surpass them. So let's get started, shall we?"

Five minutes later after some weak arguing on both their parts, Alex and Andrea were standing on opposite ends of the warehouse, arms crossed and clearly avoiding each other's gaze. Andrea was nerve wracked. _I'm going to make such a fool of myself _she thought gloomily. ..._and yet another guy won't ever want to come near me again. _

"Alright you two, try to look a bit gloomier." Charles joked over the P.A. "Now Andrea, I want you to start to walk towards Alex. Slowly."

Andrea groaned to herself and rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. Casting a glance forwards, she saw that Alex was staring at her now, hands in his back pockets. She took a deep breath and started walking in his direction, keeping her gaze down awkwardly.

"Andrea, this would work a lot better if you would look at Alex, please." Charles crackled. Heaving a sigh, more to herself then for Charles's sake, she forced her head upwards. She was now about ten feet away from Alex and when their eyes met she suddenly felt something she'd never felt before. Another crackle, like a strike of lightning inside her, his blue eyes nearly piercing. She kept walking towards him and she saw him swallow and take a breath, never breaking contact. Something about him was changing too, he was glowing again- the red aura had returned and Charles's voice broke through the room again, softer this time.

"Alex, meet her halfway."

He swallowed again and started walking, both of them getting closer and closer now, and she wondered when they'd have to stop, still not breaking eye contact. Some subconscious part of her told her she should be blushing, embarrassed by the whole situation, but she couldn't get past those eyes and the look she saw inside them.

Five feet away. Was he feeling this two or was it just her? Four feet away. Maybe she was over thinking it. Maybe nothing was happening. Three feet. But he was glowing too. Two feet. That had to prove something, right? One foot. There had to be something going on here!

Suddenly he stopped and she did too. They were facing each other, their chests mere inches away, both trying to keep their breathing even although she could tell he was having the same problems as she was, staying calm. She could practically hear his heartbeat. Or maybe that was hers...

For a moment they just stood there, mere inches apart, the tension in the room rising until Charles's voice broke into the room, scratchy from the speaker.

"Andrea, touch him."

Those simple words suddenly took her off guard, and she broke the eye contact looking down, her face flooding with blood beneath her cheeks and immediately a bolt of lightning shot out from her, body crackling around the room. Gasping, she reached out and grabbed him by instinct, just needing something solid to hold onto. She'd meant to grab his shoulder to steady herself but her hand slipped and the next thing she knew she was holding his arm, feeling the ridge of his bicep beneath her fingers, the flutter of his pulse racing just as fast as hers, and the trigger of shock as lightning shot from her hand and surged straight into his body.

His back arched immediately and she nearly screamed, willing herself to let go but her hand wouldn't listen, remaining clamped tightly to his arm while the room shook with electricity. He was trembling beneath her, and his aura had changed now, from a bright red to a bursting yellow/white, the colour of her lightning. She felt a surge of heat shoot through her head and she cried out, grasping it with her other hand. Suddenly the world seemed to spin and she struggled to stay upright, swaying on the spot.

"Get down!" Alex yelled, seeming to have come out of the initial shock and he pushed her to the floor mere seconds before his body reverberated and shot a ring of yellow fire that ripped through six warehouses one by one.

She didn't recognize where she was when she woke up.

Glancing around the room, she saw sterile white walls and clean floors. A soft murmur of voices was coming from behind the crack in an open door. She sat up wearily and gasped. The muscles in her right arm were completely exhausted and collapsed when she put the weight on it. Suddenly the voices outside stopped and she heard footsteps approaching. The door opened and Raven poked her head into the room. A smile spread over her face when she saw that Andrea was a awake and she murmured something out the door before coming in.

"Hey." she said softly, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" Andrea asked before she could stop herself.

"You're in the infirmary, it's connected to the lab. Hank was running some more tests on you a little while ago after he patched you up. You had quite the black out." she said, looking worried.

"Is Alex okay?"

She froze for a second after she asked this, not sure why it came out. She hadn't even been thinking of him, but now that she'd said it she couldn't get his face out of her head.

"Yeah he's fine." Raven said, not noticing her blunder. "He was really worried about you actually. He's the one who carried you here."

If she had been blushing thinking about him before, then she must have been beet red, because the look Raven gave her just made her want to disappear.

"Ooh now I see how it is." she sing-songed gleefully. "Someone's got a cruuuush!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Andrea hissed whacking her arm and cursing herself for mocking Raven earlier about Hank.

"Don't worry about it though, I'm sure everyone thinks it by looking at him." Raven said, shrugging as if it weren't a big deal.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Ree. Like you didn't notice. He's absolutely gorgeous. It's just his attitude that needs a bit of work, he's totally fine except that he's so serious all the time. He needs someone to help him lighten up."

"Riiight." Andrea said, rolling her eyes.

"I think it should be you actually." she said smugly. Andrea raised an eyebrow. "Think about it." she continued, ignoring Rea's doubt. "You're his partner now, you're going to be spending more time with him then anybody. I think he needs someone to get to know him." Then she winked. "If you know what I mean."

"Oh god..." Andrea put her face in her hands to hide her smile. There was a knock at the door.

"Raven? Is it alright if we come in?" asked Charles's voice from behind the door and Raven immediately straightened up and brushed off her skirt.

"Sure thing."

The door opened and in walked Charles, dressed in a new suit accompanied by Erik: stern as ever, and to Andrea's surprise; Alex. He looked slightly uneasy as if it hadn't been his idea to tag along after he'd dropped her off there.

"Do you mind if we have some time alone?" Charles asked Raven. "We need to discuss some things." Raven pouted but headed towards the door. Before she closed it though, she caught Andrea's eye and pointed at Alex behind his back, giving her the ey-okay sign. She had to stifle a laugh.

Charles and Erik had seated themselves by the table close to the window leaving Alex to take the chair by the door. All of them sat there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Right." Charles said finally. "Let's get to it then."

**Hey guys, so a bit thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved and subed to this story, it means a lot. For awhile I didn't have a lot of inspiration or motivation to continue this story, but while I was spotting for a golf tournament today I had a lot of time to myself to think over what I wanted to do, so you can expect a big boost in updates. I know I keep saying the story's going to be canon, but there are some things I am defs going to change just to fit how I see this thing going. Thanks again for sticking with me!**

**Cheers,**

**Calla Wright**


	6. Not the Only One

They waited silently for Charles to continue.

"Clearly what we've just experienced is a huge progress towards better understanding your powers,"

"Clearly." Andrea said sarcastically and felt an unexpected bit of joy as Alex cracked a small smile, his eyes still fixed on the carpet.

"...so it's fascinating that we came across something quite momentous on your first time working together." Charles said, seeming to be oblivious to any form of mockery.

"What this means," Erik continued. "is that we've made quite a momentous discovery."

Andrea straightened up in bed and Alex's gaze rose to see his mentor.

"What is it?" she asked, breaking the painful silence, figuring someone had to.

"Alex," Charles said, turning to the blonde, "Before today, what is the strongest thing you've ever destroyed with your power?"

Something flickered across his face and she wondered if he was thinking of something that wasn't what Charles had meant. He was silent a moment before he spoke, his deep voice carrying.

"Probably an average house." he said, and then pondered for a moment before adding "Or a police helicopter." Andrea raised her eyebrows.

"So by that observation, we can come to the conclusion that you've never quite come close to using your power to rip through something such as, six separate solid steel storage sheds." Erik said flatly.

"So we come to the conclusion," Charles continued, "that when Andrea touched you while both of you were, "fully charged" so to speak, your power was multiplied by at least ten times it's usual strength."

No one spoke while they absorbed this new information.

"So... what, I'm like some sort of battery?" Andrea asked, confused.

"If you want to put it that way, then yes." Charles said nodding. "It seems that some sort of clash in your powers caused a sort of absorbent effect, almost as if Alex sucked some of your energy into his beams. Therefor causing you to collapse, and the arm you touched him with's muscles completely shot.

"Is that going to get better?" Alex asked suddenly, a look of guilt crossing his face.

"It should be back to it's normal strength in a few days, yes. You're going to want to rest it." he said to Andrea. "No exert yourself to much before we can get you both back in the training room again."

"Wait a minute," Alex said, the guilt replaced now by annoyance. "We're doing this again? It practically killed her earlier today and you want to try it again?"

"Thanks for the faith..." Andrea muttered under her breath, but no one seemed to hear her.

"Alex, if we don't try it again how can we learn to prevent it?" Charles sighed. "Andrea was miles away from death. It just seemed to drain her energy for that moment and some time afterwards."

Alex didn't say anything back, but she could tell he was still bothered by the idea.

"So, we'll give you some time to rest now Andrea." Charles concluded, getting up and turning to the door, Erik already leaving. He looked at the two of them and finally said grimly, "This is progress. No matter how small, everything is progress."

The door closed and she could hear their footsteps echoing away down the hall.

Suddenly she realized that it was just her and Alex alone in the room. He seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion, as he was looking around awkwardly, drumming his fingers on his knee.

"Are _you _okay?" she asked suddenly, and then mentally kicked herself for doing so. Of course he was okay, he wouldn't be sitting there if he wasn't.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said flatly, his eyes flicking up once to hers, then back down to his fists clamped together. "Just a bit rattled." he added as an afterthought.

"Well yeah, I'd be rattled too if I ever blasted through six steel buildings." she said, joking.

"No, that's not what bothered me." he said, not laughing. Another silence.

"Then what was it?"

Staring at him, his eyes flitted down to the lower left corner and he bit his lip subconsciously. She felt something in her stomach drop and suddenly had the urge to do it for him.

"It's nothing." he said, and the expectancy she'd had towards his reply disappeared.

"Oh. Okay." she said bluntly as they entered another silence. A moment later, she spoke again.

"Thank you, by the way."

He looked up again, not glancing away this time and held her gaze. "For what?" he asked, confused.

"You know, the warning. 'Get down!' and all that. I'd be fried right now if it weren't for you."

Surprisingly, he let out a laugh. "I didn't do anything" he said, a smile still etched on his face.

"Oh please, don't be modest."

"I'm not being modest. I didn't do anything. I pushed you. That's all."

"If you hadn't I'd be dead." she countered.

"I was the one making the charge in the first place." he said, rolling his eyes.

"But I was the one making it lethal."

"Believe me, it was lethal before."

This phrase took them both by surprise as her thought process started rolling. He'd killed someone before. Why else would he have said that? She wasn't the only one who'd done it...

So although she knew the answer, she asked the question anyway.

"How do you know?"

He frowned, almost as if annoyed by her question, annoyed that she couldn't figure it out.

"You're not the only one with problems." he said flatly. She frowned in return. What did he know? He wasn't the sole mutant with life troubles. He brushed off the mere thought that she could have a dark past, and yet expected others to go along with his troubled delinquent routine.

"And you're not the only one who's killed before." she retorted, her voice hollow. He looked up and blinked, face blank of emotion except for a slight trigger of shock and distant pain. She suddenly felt guilty. "We don't just have a power source in common you know." she said, softer this time. "You aren't alone in this."

He looked like he was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. It opened and Hank poked his head in to observe the scene.

"Charles told me it was about time Andrea got some rest." he explained when catching sight of Alex before leaving.

Alex stood and turned his head to take her in. Something about the way he was looking at her, with a mixture of countless expressions on his face, bothered her.

"I'll see you soon." he said finally, before heading out the door leaving her alone to the sterile lights of the infirmary.


	7. Bonding

"Oh come on! I'm injured!"

"That's what I said, but you know Charles, he doesn't like to waste time."

Raven and Andrea were in the kitchen, Raven leaning back on the counter curling her hair, Andrea at the island leaning eating a bowl of cereal with the handicap of one arm in a sling.

"Well what does he expect me to do? Train?" Andrea asked, wiping her mouth with a paper napkin before eating another bite.

"Probably not but he's for sure going to get you to do _something._"

Just then there was a laugh from the doorway and the two girls looked up to see Sean and Alex standing there, having just arrived.

"Well isn't this a sight." Sean laughed walking past Raven and tugging on a lock of her curls as she swatted his hand away. "Just a couple of queens in the kitchen." he laughed.

"Shut it Banshee." Raven mumbled, tucking his own curly red hair as Andrea let out a laugh. She glanced up at Alex who was occupied with getting something out of the fridge. Just then he turned his head around and their eyes met, immediately causing them both to look away.

"So what's on the menu for today?" Sean asked, grabbing an apple and taking a huge bite, spraying Andrea with the juice.

"Ew, Sean!"

"Weights and basics for me." Raven said, finishing her final curl and unplugging the gadget. "Charles said he wanted Andrea at the lab in half an hour, but wouldn't say what they were doing."

"Yeah, he told me the same thing." Alex said, glancing back at them while he put bread in the toaster. "Don't know what he expects us to do though."

Fifty minutes later Andrea was standing alone in the lab looking at her surroundings anxiously. Charles was twenty minutes late, which usually wouldn't be a problem if he was nothing if not punctual. He'd said he'd had _something _planned for her and Alex but up until now neither of them had bothered showing up. Casting a final glance around the room she heaved an impatient sigh.

"Well I give up on this..." she muttered to herself, heading towards the back door away from the lab. She was just about to push it open when suddenly it swung away from her and Alex stood in the door way, his body illuminated by the sudden light. Both of them jumped at the sight of each other and after a brief pause Alex spoke.

"Am I late?"

"Not at all. It's Charles who's behind actually, I don't think he's going to show."

Alex stood there, running a hand through his hair. "Oh. So we just... what? Do whatever?"

"I guess. I was gonna go for a walk."

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, taking her off guard. She didn't know him that well but from her first impression she'd sort of pegged Alex as a I-dislike-the-company-of-others sort of person. Maybe she'd been wrong.

"No, that'd be great."

The pair of them walked across the grounds keeping to the side trails that surrounded the manor. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Andrea decided to speak. She needed noise. Anything.

"So where are you from?" she blurted, causing him to glance in her direction, his hands still deep in his pockets.

"Originally? Hawaii."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously." he said, smiling now. "But my family moved to Alaska when I was six, so I never saw much of it."

"I'd never been outside the West Coast until a week ago." she said, feeling the need to give him a detail of her life now that he'd shared some of his, however small it was.

"Yeah, Raven mentioned you were from L.A." he said, kicking a pebble as they walked past a stone statue of a woman holding a child. "The Golden State." he added, smiling.

"Not so golden from my side of town." she said bleakly. He cut his eyes towards her and she felt herself blush.

"Bad neighborhood?"

"You could say that, if arson and gang fights every night make up a bad neighborhood."

He let out a whoosh of breath, keeping his eyes forward now.

"I moved to New York a few years back after things got rough. My part of town wasn't so ideal either."

"What part of New York?"

"The Bronx."

"Ah."

"Have you ever-"

But the rest of his sentence was cut off as Andrea felt a splash of freezing water burst on the back of her neck and she tensed up letting out a shrill cry. The two of them whipped around to see Sean and Raven rolling on the grass in near hysterics, a garden hose in Sean's hand, it's water rushing onto the grass.

"Sean you dick!" she shouted and Alex laughed, but Sean shot him in the face and suddenly his expression was much the same as Andrea's.

"You wanna get him?" he asked her, casting a side glance in her direction.

"Hell yes!"

And the next thing they were running full speed towards their attackers, as Sean shrieked and started spraying them in an attempt to ward them back. Andrea screamed as the water soaked her through, but soon Alex at wrestled the hose away from him and was shooting water full blast at the back of his head.

"Die Cassidy! Die!" Alex laughed as Sean quickly came back with a second hose as he and Raven took cover behind a tree. Andrea and Alex quickly rolled down behind a shrub, waiting for the others to creep out and the second Sean poked his head into the open Alex shot a jet of water straight into his eye. Raven cackled hysterically and fell down onto the grass from behind the tree as Sean let out a gurgled "Errghh!" as Andrea grabbed the hose from Alex to get her too.

"Noo we surrender!" Raven shrieked her laughter carrying across the grounds and Andrea let out a burst of giggles as she collapsed down beside her friend as Alex joined them on her other side. The four lay on the wet grass, their sides sore from laughing and Andrea turned her head to the side to catch a glimpse of Alex, who to her surprise was staring at her, a smile playing at his lips. She could feel herself blushing and sprayed him in the face just to get excuse to look away.

A week later the group was outside in the gardens scattered lazily as they went over some books Charles had assigned them all to read. Mutant History.

"God this is boring, somebody just punch me out already." Sean complained, rolling over from his spot on the grass.

"That could be arranged." Andrea muttered from a bench as the others laughed. Raven who sat beside her had discarded her book ages ago and was painting her toenails. Alex was on a separate bench, his eyes closed but by no means asleep while Hank attempted to read his book thoroughly from his spot on the edge of the fountain that bubbled behind them.

"Honestly, I don't see at all how this can help us when it comes to fighting other mutants." he mused, turning a page lazily.

"It's educating us on other mutants powers. By reading this, we become aware of different ways to defend ourselves against attackers with similar-"

"I think it was a rhetorical question doofus." Alex spoke up, his eyes still closed as Hank's face turned red.

"Oh leave him alone." Raven huffed, shaking the bottle of nail polish before going to work on her other foot.

"Defense again other mutants. What a joke. If we know how to attack them properly we don't need defense." Sean scoffed.

Suddenly from behind there was a deafening crack and the group turned, Alex opening his eyes and sitting up, Hank nearly falling into the pond- to see a group of three mutants Andrea had never laid eyes on before. Three men, one rather handsome, his coloring looked almost Spanish or Italian, the other's skin beat red with a tail! The two of them were flanking an older looking man in the center who was wearing a smug expression as he gazed onwards at the younger mutants.

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Cassidy." spoke Sebastian Shaw.


	8. Stay With Me

"Shaw."

The name had come out as a low growl, not from Sean or even Alex but Raven. She'd sat up and was looking him in the eye with a look Andrea had never seen before on the blonde's face. Pure hatred.

"Miss Raven, I presume." he spoke, his words flowing lazily off his tongue. "What a pleasure. I didn't have the honor of making your acquaintance at our last... encounter."

"Go to hell." she spat, and the red skinned mutant moved as if he were going to attack her, but Shaw held out his arm, holding him back.

"Azazel. That would be no way to treat our friends."

"We're no friends of yours." Hank growled, standing up from his spot by the fountain. "How did you find us? There should be no way to get-"

"Details, minor details." Shaw scoffed, waving the topic away with the back of his hand.

All the young mutants were standing now, hands clenched at their sides. Andrea observed Shaw, his clean white suit, neat haircut and slightly handsome face. She didn't even try to guess his age, as from her minor knowledge of mutants she'd learned that some of them could appear forty and in reality be over a hundred years old. His eyes were scanning the group now, taking in the familiar faces and suddenly his cold eyes found hers. A slow smile creeped it's way onto his face, showing obviously bleached teeth and a smile that was so sharp it could cut glass. She shuddered, but forced herself not to break eye contact.

"It appears you've found a replacement for your friend." he said cruelly. "Darwin, I recall?"

"Don't you dare speak his name." Raven spat. "You are worth nothing compared to him, you murdering fuckhead."

A flash of anger crossed Shaw's face, but only for a moment before it was brought back to his sly grin, like a fox preparing for slaughter.

"Yes, it was quite a waste. His gift was unique." he said neutrally, ignoring Raven's insult. "It's a shame he didn't chose to join us. It would also be a shame to see something similar happen again."

He had stepped some feet towards them as he spoke, but there was nowhere for them to run, so they had simply stood there, the hate evident in their eyes.

"Your threats are empty." Hank growled. "We know you wouldn't spill mutant blood when you could claim it for yourself. You have no ground here, so don't think that-"

"I grow tired of your speeches." Shaw interrupted, stopping Hank's words. "I haven't just come here to visit." he smirked. "You have something I want. And I've come to collect."

The younger mutants took this in, shocked. He wanted something that they had? But what? No object in their possession that they knew of could fully satisfy Sebastian Shaw.

"What is it?" Sean asked, a frown crossing his face. "Not that we'd give it to you." Shaw's grin widened.

"You might choose to call _it_ a type of weapon, Mr. Cassidy." he said, taking a closer step towards the group, his henchmen still flanking him. "A very exquisite weapon."

With a smile that could cut glass, he turned his head towards Andrea.

"Ms. Cartwell, I don't believe I've had the pleasure." he said, taking a step in her direction.

Andrea's eyes widened in shock and she took a step back but was blocked by the surrounding maze of hedges that trapped them in. "Sebastian Shaw." he grinned, extending his hand. "And what a pleasure it is."

"Get away from her."

Andrea's eyes flicked instantly to the familiar voice. Alex was standing tense, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes like daggers on Shaw. She made no move to shake Shaw's hand, and simply stared at Alex.

"Mr. Summers, I'm having a conversation here with Ms. Cartwell, so if you don't mind..." Shaw took a closer step towards Andrea, causing her to back up father and press her back against the sharp branches of the bush behind her.

"You are a fascinating young woman Ms. Cartwell." he said softly now, and even though his voice had taken on a calming tone she felt more frightened then ever. This man was a murderer, and he was much to close for comfort. She could feel his hot breath on her neck as she turned her head away to avoid looking at him. Her eyes were glued to the ground and she could feel herself starting to tremble. "And quite beautiful to, I had not expected-"

"I said get away from her, that's your last warning." Alex spat, and Andrea's eyes flicked up to see him, his jaw clenched and a look of rage and anger clashing over his face.

"Mr. Summers," Shaw sighed impatiently. "Don't make me silence you by force. I have come here for one thing, and one thing only and that lies in Ms. Cartwell here."

Andrea's eyes flecked back towards Shaw, who's cold orbs were still trained on her face. She flinched as he raised his hand slightly and brought it to hover in front of her cheek.

"I had heard rumor of a mutant who's powers were charging. Who's powers amplified those of others, preferably mutants who could manipulate energy. Mutants like myself." He was so close now she could practically feel the heat rising off him, and with a wave of disgust she could smell his breath- fowl and gruesome just like everything else about him that he tried so hard to hide. "I have come to see if the rumors are true." he whispered, and his hand reached forward to cup her cheek when suddenly there was a cry,

"Andrea get down!"

On impulse more then anything else she ducked just as Shaw's hand shot forwards to grab her, his fingers clawing through the empty air. His arm reached down to grab her, but she leaned back on her hands and kicked her legs out like Erik had taught the group to do in training, her feet colliding with Shaw's kneecaps forcing him to gasp out in pain and anger as his legs buckled. Suddenly there was a loud cry and Andrea's heart leapt in shock, but she soon realized that it was Sean letting out a deafening screech in an attempt to distract their enemies. The sound seemed to trigger the other mutant's defense tactics and the next thing they knew the Spanish mutant had created a spiraling wind tunnel that ripped branches off the surrounding trees and hurtle them in random directions. She glanced up at Shaw who had covered his ears grimacing, his eyes searching for her in the mass of confusion. They found hers and she sprung forward in a panic of escape, narrowly dodging a branch that soared over her head and burst into splinters as it smashed into the fountain causing the water to spurt up far over their heads, the stone it was made from turning to rubble and striking Raven who let out a cry and fell to her knees. Andrea scrambled forward but the air had grown covered in dust and rubble making it hard for her to see. Her head whipped round as she felt a scraping against her calve and saw Shaw, his fingers reaching desperately for her leg in an attempt to capture her. She shrieked and let out a kick, her heel coming in contact with his nose and she heard a cry of rage from behind her as she crawled forwards. She could feel her electricity crackling around her, mixing with the humid air and making the situation all that more dangerous. There was a yell as Shaw lunged forwards, his hand wrapping round her shoe but still missing her skin. In a panic, an uncontrollable shot of her lightening shot out from her body illuminating the sky.

"Andrea!" shouted a voice from ahead and she instantly felt another spurt of brief energy as another bolt was shot from her skin.

"Alex!" she screamed blindly, not knowing if it was him who had spoken her name, just knowing that he was near and that for some uncontrollable reason she had to find him.

"I'm here!" he shouted from her left and she turned towards the sound of his voice seeing his silhouette in the dust of a cloud just as there was another burst of rubble and she was showered with stones, a large one landing on the middle of her back as she let out a loud cry of pain.

"Andrea!" Alex yelled, his voice louder now, and suddenly she saw him just ten feet in front of her, his head whipping round frantically searching for her.

"Here!" she screamed, "I'm here!" With a final lurch of strength she forced herself to her feet and lunged towards him. He turned just in time. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him round to face her his eyes widening at something he saw in her face, but they didn't have time for words. She felt a sweaty hand wrap round her wrist and suddenly it was as if she was being drained, all energy slipping away from her and she let out a strangled cry. Shaw was behind her having just grabbed her for a moment before Alex wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her away. If he had hoped it would stop Shaw though, he was mistaken. Luckily the villain had been to shocked by the surge of power he had just received to act on impulse right away. Alex took the moment as an opportunity and pulled Andrea behind a pile of rubble that had been the fountain only moments ago. He reached for her quickly but his hands on her shoulders were gentle as he held her up to face him, his blue eyes sparked with adrenaline and concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, his voice still laced with urgency, the two of them trying desperately not to draw attention as they hid from the now fully charged Shaw.

"Something happened..." she gasped, her body feeling weaker then it ever had. "What did he do to me?" she asked, subconsciously leaning forward, only noticing it when she saw how close their faces were to each other.

"He manipulates energy into power." Alex explained hastily, casting a glance behind him at the clouds of dust and shadows that battled within them. "Can you move?" he asked, his ocean eyes darting back to hers causing her stomach to twist. "I think so." she whispered as he stood slowly.

"Wait here." he said, looking around at his surroundings. "I'll be right ba-"

"Wait, Alex." she said, grabbing the side of the ruined fountain to steady herself. He stopped mid speech and waited for her to continue.

"I have an idea."

A minute later she had just explained the foundations hurriedly when they saw an enormous glow come from within the storm of dust and cloud. A cruel voice echoed out from the shadows; "Ms. Cartwell, if you come out now I promise I will not murder your friends." Shaw spoke harshly, and Andrea grabbed Alex's sleeve and pulled him out into the rubble strewn area.

She could feel the sudden new found energy that coursed through her veins like fire, the warmth coming off Alex's skin beside her only amplifying the sense.

"Surrender now and we promise not to kill you." Alex spoke from beside her as the two of them stepped into the clear part of the rubble. Shaw stood in the middle of it, blood dribbling down his face from where Andrea had broken his nose earlier. On his left stood Azazel, his razor sharp tail wrapped tightly around Sean, the pointed tip grazing his throat just below his vocal chords. On his right was the Spanish mutant, his hand closed over Hank's neck. Raven lay unconscious a few feet away in the rubble strewn grass.

Andrea felt a spasm of fear and nausea at the sight of her friends being threatened, but it only fueled her power that continued to bubble and spill out of her in tiny shocks of light.

"Kill me?" Shaw repeated, barking out an angry laugh. "You will be the first to die, Mr. Summers, as you've angered me enough today..."

Andrea watched as Shaw formed his hands together charging the bolt of energy that would surely be Alex's end. "NOW!" she screamed, as she stepped back and Alex came to stand in her place. She spun round behind him, never having felt so much energy surging through her and placed her hands on his back, her fingers landing along muscles that lay under the thin cotton of his shirt. With a gasp of release, she let loose all the power she had been containing into Alex, who in a matter of seconds, had converted it into his own beam of power and was blasting it straight towards Shaw in the direction of his heart.

Time seemed to slow down.

Everything stopped and Andrea was caught in the moment, of the then and there, the feeling of the wild wind wrapping around her, the muggy air, the feel of Alex's skin beneath her hands, the crease of hard muscle under her fingertips and the electric pulses that seemed to run between them in that moment. The sight of Hank's eyes widening and Sean's closing as Alex shot out the biggest bolt of power they had seen yet, as Shaw's face became a sudden picture of horror, his energy dying out in his hands as he saw his death staring him straight in the face. The trigger of knowledge in Azazel's eyes as he followed his instincts to protect his master. The puff and swirl of red smoke as he appeared beside Shaw, realizing Sean who dropped to his knees in shock, and grabbed the killer's arm. The flash of light as the three mutants who'd come to attack them disappeared in the red blur of Azazel's power that caused them to leave as quickly as them had came.

Everything sped up again.

Alex let out a cry of anger, but it was too late, his blast had already surged forwards and Andrea screamed in fear as it ghosted between Sean and Hank, just barely sparing their lives, before destroying everything that lay in it's path for the next four mile radius. The blast suddenly stopped and both mutants fell to the ground, Andrea drained of everything, almost feeling as if she would never move again. But just before her skull struck the ground to silence her world, she felt a warm hand slide under her head, protecting her from the hard ground beneath them. With her final burst of strength she looked up to see Alex struggling to keep her protected, to keep her safe even after the immediate threat was gone.

And then everything was black.


	9. Scars

Everything started coming back slowly. First in a blur; pulsing beats of light across her eyelids, an eerie ringing in the back of her head like the permanent note from a telephone, high and clear when suddenly her name broke the noise.

"Andrea, stay with me. Stay with me, I'm here."

The edges of her consciousness were starting to comeback. She could hear. She could feel. Sharp pain in her forehead. Throbbing in her back. Burning at her temple. Strong arms holding her up. Warm hands brushing the hair back from her face.

"Andrea wake up, for Christ's sake don't do this to me..."

Panicked voice. Shouts in the distance.

"It's Charles, thank God!"

"Charles!"

"Erik come over here, we need you!"

More voices. Too many voices.

She led out a moan and winced, her eyes opening ever so slightly letting in a shred of light and she curled in on her self.

"Thank God." a voice whispered above her, suddenly a lot clearer. "Andrea if you can hear me I need you to open your eyes."

_But I don't want to._

"Andrea open your eyes, I need you to do what I say!"

_Oh fine..._

She opened them slowly, blinking in the light she was ready for now as she saw him. Alex was leaning over her and she could feel his hand cradling her from the ground beneath them. His eyes were brighter then ever, matching the blue sky behind him that mismatched with the current situation so much it was almost funny. There was a streak of red across his face and she felt a drop in her stomach.

"You're bleeding." she whispered, her voice cracking softly as she reached out and touched his face gently. He sighed and let out a shaky laugh while she could have sworn he'd lent into her touch.

"It's not my blood." he said, adjusting himself as he slid his arm farther beneath her his other one under her knees. She dropped her hand when she realized what he was doing.

"Alex, I can walk."

"It's not the walking I'm concerned about."

He stood up slowly and she blushed as he pulled her tighter towards him. She could feel his heartbeat and couldn't help but feel foolishly safe in his arms as he looked around the space.

"Alex!" someone shouted just as something registered with Andrea.

"Who's blood is it?" she asked softly. He glanced down at her, his mouth open as if about to speak when the previous speaker approached.

"We heard what happened." the speaker said breathlessly. Andrea's eyes flickered to a face she'd only met once, and briefly. "Sean's in a shock, Raven's still unconscious and Hank's blubbering about like an idiot." Moira MacTaggert was standing with her arms crossed looking around in a state of shock. "I can't believe Shaw would be capable of all this..." she whispered and looked like she was about to continue her sentence when she glanced down at Andrea and immediately her face paled.

"My God..." she whispered, whirling round quickly as the burning in Andrea's forehead increased. "Charles!" she shouted out. "Charles come here, quick!"

Andrea felt panic. She glanced towards Alex who had tightened his grip on her and met her gaze.

"Alex." She said, trying to steady her voice. "Who's blood is it?"

"It was a big explosion." he said, and she could tell he was having trouble steadying his voice as well. "There was debris flying everywhere."

"_Alex._" she said, the panic seeping into her voice now and she could see the pain in his eyes. "What happened to me?"

"Good God."

She turned her head towards the voice to see a stressed looking Charles and a firm faced Erik approaching until all the adults had gathered around her.

"We need to get her to the infirmary. Have a doctor look at that." Erik said firmly.

"Look at what, what happened?" she asked, her voice rising. A gust of wind came by and blew a strand of her hair into her face and she absentmindedly reached up to brush it away when she froze. Blood stained her fingertips a scarlet red and she felt her breathing hitch.

In that moment she couldn't hear anything, not the adults discussing what to do next, not the extra recruits gathering in by the dozens to assess the damage. Just the same ringing as before and the pounding of Alex's heart against her side. She couldn't deal with it any longer. She closed her eyes tight and without a word more to her friends and mentors, let herself slip away into the darkness once again.

"I hope this isn't going to become a usual thing."

Andrea had just woken up to see that she was back in the bed she'd been originally placed in after her first experience with Alex in the bunkers. She sat up drearily and saw Charles sitting across from her bed. To his left sat Raven and this sight gave Andrea the strength to sit up to her full height, nothing but the slight pulsing in her back to attempt hold her back.

"Raven." she smiled and the shape shifting blonde leaned forwards in her chair to take Andrea's hand. "You're okay."

"I am. Just a mild concussion." she smiled but it didn't meet her eyes. "You've missed quite the party." she joked.

"Yes, the extra staff has been quite preoccupied with getting the manner back in order after Shaw's attack." Charles said, a sad smile on his lips. "A matter of which we'll need to discuss." he said. "Later." he added after getting a stern glance from Raven. "In the meantime Andrea, we're focused on your recovery."

"Actually..." she said, flexing her arms out in front of her. "I feel fine." she said. "It's strange. At the time I felt as though I had died from the blast, but now I feel just as good as ever." she said smiling.

"Yes we've been looking into that. We gave Hank another blood sample while you were unconscious and we've made quite an interesting discovery. Your recovered muscle tissue from after your previous trip here seems to have increased in strength amazingly, and whatever caused this has spread to the rest of your body. It seems that once you've experienced the power of the rebounding energy, your cells can adjust themselves to take on even stronger forces of power."

Raven shot him the same look again and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "But, erm, that is not what I meant by recovery."

Andrea stiffened. Suddenly she recalled the burning sensation on her face as Alex held her, and it hadn't been from the blush she'd gotten. The blood on his face... he'd said it wasn't his.

"What happened to me?" she asked cautiously, sitting up straighter.

"Well..." Raven started, casting a glance at Charles. "When the initial explosion hit, right after Shaw teleported... everything was destroyed. There were flying chunks of rock and metal every which where and one of them... well..."

Without a word Charles took a small mirror out of his pocket and handed it over to Andrea who picked it up with shaking hands.

When she was met with her reflection, she stifled a gasp. Staring back at her was the face she was used to, except on the left side of her face there was an obvious change. A pink puckered scar was ripped into her flesh and trailed down from into her hairline vertically down her face to where it cut off at her jaw as if someone had taken scissors to her skin and followed a marked line. The cut was jagged at some patches like over the ridge of her cheekbone, and she let out a stifled gasp, but didn't drop the mirror.

She stared at herself for a minute longer, trying to gather her courage. She could feel Raven and Charles's eyes on her, but her eyes remained glued to the new addition to her face. Now whenever people looked at her they wouldn't see her for who she was. They would just see the scar, this mark that her power had finally inflicted upon her. It had only been a matter of time. But the longer she looked at it the more she felt that maybe it suited her. It was new and bold, just like her and her discovery of this new world. A moment later she turned to face her friends.

"It's going to take some getting used to, that's for sure." she said simply as Charles laughed and Raven squeezed her hand encouragingly.

It she was released from the infirmary that evening with the sole instructions to apply a special ointment to her scar after a couple hours more of resting. As she stepped out into the grounds she took a look around her, wanting to take in everything she had. A month ago she'd been living in L.A, in her shit little apartment working all the jobs she needed to keep herself alive all while avoiding rape and murdering anyone. Now she had friends, warm food and a comfortable bed not to mention was learning to control the power she'd thought was a curse her whole life. Her scar was a small price to pay.

She found herself walking the grounds, her shoes following the stone paths that led towards the main building. Once inside it was empty and she couldn't hear anyone. She paced the halls exploring the rooms for company, climbing staircase after staircase until she found herself opening a door that led out onto the roof. Pausing only once, she took a step out into the now cool night air. There was a small rock garden that decorated the space, and a bench by the ledge that she walked over to. Taking a seat she looked out over the acres and acres of land the Xaviers had owned for generations. What would it be like, she wondered, to have always had a place to live. A home to call her own.

A gust of wind blew over the roof and she shivered in her thin sweater, pulling it tighter around her.

"Cold?"

Her head whipped around and there he stood.

Alex was leaning against the door to the roof, a smile playing at his lips, leather jacket zipped up to his collar.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Long enough to tell you're not a fan of the temperature change." he smiled, taking a step forwards to join her.

"No chance of an Indian summer this year." she said as he took a seat beside her on the bench. She leaned back forcing her eyes not to stare at him, but apparently he didn't have the same intentions.

"What?" she said, glancing at him and then away. Suddenly self conscious about her scar she reached a hand up as if to hide it, but realized with a sinking feeling that it was too big. She would never cover it all.

"I'm sorry." he said, tearing his eyes away from her face to stare forwards just as she did the opposite.

"For what?"

He let out a sigh. "If I hadn't let that blast out... if everything hadn't shattered..."

She stared at his face, his serious expression and the grim tone to his voice and suddenly let out a laugh. He frowned.

"You think it's funny?" he asked, clearly annoyed while she tried to stifle her giggles.

"Oh _come on _Alex." she smirked, covering her smile. "Honestly, you kill me."

"I don't see what's so great about me ripping your face open." he said curtly.

"It wasn't _you _who did this to me." she said, gesturing openly to her face. "It was a shard to metal! I'm laughing because you're so dramatic."

"I'm not dramatic." he said stubbornly, still frowning and refusing to meet her eyes.

"Yes you are, you're a dramatic, angsty teenager with a dark past and a habit of keeping secrets." she giggled. "You're like a character out of a young adult novel."

"Maybe I keep my secrets for a reason." he said, although she could see the corner of his mouth twitch and knew she was getting to him.

"Yeah, maybe you like to watch me suffer trying to figure them out." she joked, leaning into him as he finally smiled. "I don't blame anyone for what happened to me." she said mildly, watching his expression. "Except maybe Shaw." she added and he immediately frowned. "That I'll thank you for." she said.

"He's a perverted power hungry dictator. I did what I had to."

"You told him to get away from me so he wouldn't gain any of my power, that's what I'm thanking you for. Anyone could have done it, but it was you, quit being so modest."

Suddenly he was silent. There was a moment when she couldn't figure out why, and then suddenly something dawned on her.

"But how did you know that he'd be able to absorb my power?" she asked suddenly, glancing at him and waiting for an answer. He kept his eyes down, not looking at her before he answered.

"I didn't."

She didn't say anything and neither did he but she could immediately feel the tension of their situation growing, as fragile as a house of cards, like one wrong move might shatter it all.

"Then why did you say it?" she asked, barely breathing, the silence between them louder then anything she'd ever heard. It seemed like an eternity before he answered her but he finally did.

"I didn't want him touching you. Not because I thought he'd take your power. Just because... I didn't want him to be first. I don't ever want him to touch you. And there's just no way I'm letting him hurt you. There's no way I'm letting him near you."

She could feel the heat rise to her face as he said this, feel his warmth through her sweater where their arms touched and suddenly she wanted more then to be connected through layers of clothing. She wanted his skin on her skin, his hands in her hair and his lips on hers because out of everyone she had ever met here was finally someone who understood her, someone who knew what she had been through and with all of that the fact that there could be even a possibility that he could feel the slightest inkling of want towards her as she did about him was something she didn't ever want to pass up. Desire almost overwhelmed her in the moment and in a leap of chance, she slowly reached over and entwined her fingers with his, squeezing his hand.

The web between them was being held together by a thread and in that one moment, he turned his head to face hers. Their eyes locked and she was suddenly aware just how close their faces were to each others.

"You don't need to worry about him touching me ever. I've pretty much chosen who I want that person to be." she whispered.

Alex leaned forwards, his skin softly touching her own and in that moment she knew.

His lips brushed against hers gently before she couldn't take the anticipation any longer. She pressed herself forwards and he caught her lips in his, inhaling sharply. Her hand reached forwards and wrapped itself around the sleeve of his jacket, shivering as he reached forwards to cup the side of her face, soft to the touch which surprised her. She let out a soft sigh and his hand snaked it's way into her hair, pulling her mouth closer to his as his mouth melded with hers. She leaned forwards even further, pressing a hand against his chest and feeling his thudding heartbeat under the warmth of his skin as his other hand moved to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him on the bench. Her tongue grazed his lower lip slightly and he let out a soft noise of surprise, and she could feel him smiling against her lips. She smiled too and suddenly she pulled away to catch his expression. His pupils had dilated somewhat and he looked surprised that she'd been the one to end it so suddenly.

"What?" he whispered, their noses bumping gently in the darkness that surrounded them.

"I want to remember this." she said softly. His smile widened and he leaned in again, matching her want with his.

Suddenly there was a loud noise and a sharp beam of light and the two of them jumped away, sliding to opposite ends of the bench and blinking in the glare.

"Well well well." Sean laughed loudly from the doorway. "I was looking for you two but I never quite expected this."

Alex let out an irritated noise as Andrea got up hastily from the bench.

"Well I doubt you'll ever forget this..." he muttered as he went to walk past her awkwardly, squeezing her hand as Andrea blushed and followed him, all at the sound of Sean's echoing laughter.

**OKAY so I am officially awful at keeping up with this story. I can't even remember when I last updated. But I have to say, once again a huge THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO'S BEEN STANDING BY! This story would be nothing without your awesome feedback. So thanks. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, and I really hoped you guys liked my attempt at romance ;P REVIEWS WELCOME!**

**I'd love to hear what you think. **

**Cheers, **

**-Cal**

**(oh, btw sorry for all the shit spelling in some parts.) **


	10. Fireworks

Following the previous night's events, Andrea had hurried to her room. After Sean interrupted them on the balcony, Alex had left quickly, almost too quickly she had worried. As she hurried through the halls back to her room she wondered if what had just passed between the two of them was real. It certainly seemed too good to be true.

She'd locked her door and climbed into bed, hoping no one would come knocking to stir her from her thoughts. A mild heat spread through her scar as she drifted off to sleep and in her last waking moments she discarded the worry of what people would think when they found out, for Sean was sure to tell everyone, and instead touched her fingers lightly to her lips. Remembering how eagerly he'd kissed her back then... she couldn't help but smile.

She awoke to a banging.

"Aaandreaaa!" came Raven's muffled voice from behind her door. She sat up in a daze and nearly tripped over the plush carpet as she staggered sleepily to the door. Swinging it open she was faced with a slyly smiling Raven already dressed in her grey tracksuit, the hoodie tied around her waist and the tank top showing off her curves boldly.

"Hey." Andrea yawned, covering her mouth.

"YOU DOG!"

Andrea jumped at the sudden raise of voice, but Raven was busy laughing. She dragged her friend back into the room and raised her eyebrows, ignoring Andrea's shocked expression.

"You made out with Alex!" she exclaimed, her smile never faltering. Andrea turned scarlet, the sudden realism of the matter hitting her full on.

"Oh." she mumbled. "That."

"What do you mean _that_?" Raven laughed, plopping herself down on the bed as Andrea leaned against the wall, still blushing. "Don't tell me it wasn't amazing."

"No, it was, it was!" Andrea exclaimed, holding out her hands in defense. "Believe me. It was."

"I'll bet." Raven smirked. "Did he make the first move or was it you? Did you see fireworks? What was the best part?"

His hands, his lips, his smell, his hair, the sounds he made...

"Whoa, slow down there!" Andrea said, holding her hands out and trying to shake her current mind frame that kept taking her back to last night.

"I want to know!" she insisted, banging the mattress for emphasis.

"Um, well I think he made the first move, but that part's kind of a blur..." she said blushing. "Fire works... I don't know..."

"What about the best part?" Raven asked, clearly not impressed at her blunt answers so far. She took a moment to think it over.

"Everything." she said bashfully as Raven finally let out a squeal.

"Well you'll have to tell me all about it tonight." she announced, bouncing up off the bed. "You're coming over to my room. We're having a girls night."

"Really?" Andrea said happily. She'd never had much time to have "girls nights", let alone hang out with many friends. Sure she was friendly with people and had been invited to a few, but she'd always held back, worried about what human contact could do to effect her power. Now though, she was safe.

"Absolutely. And I'm sure you'll have even more to tell about what's going to go down today." Raven added deviously.

"Wait, what? What's going on today?"

"Charles wants you back in training. You're meeting him at the bunkers again. _Alex_is going to be there." she teased.

"Oh God..." Andrea moaned, covering her face in her hands. "I see Alex again for the first time after last night and _Charles_is going to be there?"

"Enjoy that awkwardness." Raven winked. "I'm going to weapons training with Hank and Sean. Hopefully Charles will get you two to work _real__close_now that he knows how the two of you scared the shit out of Shaw with that bolt. I know I was unconscious and everything, but Hank told me it was a doozy."

"See you." Andrea dismissed as Raven waved and disappeared out the door, kicking it shut behind her. She turned to face her closet: the grey tracksuit sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Well..." she mumbled, grabbing it off the hanger. "...this should be interesting..."

She'd left shortly after and had walked across the grounds on her way to the bunkers, taking in the clear sky and flourish of growth that seemed to be everywhere on the estate. Stepping outside she'd been met with a warm gust of air from the sunny day and had removed her sweat shirt and tied it around her waist just like she'd seen Raven do. The further she walked the more clearly the bunkers stood out and the next thing she knew she was at the door to the one they'd been assigned to for that day.

Reaching her hand out she moved to push the thick door open, but it wouldn't budge. Frowning, she tried again but the heavy door seemed to be locked. Looking around for another entrance, she turned to go when there was a loud groaning of metal on metal behind her and she turned to see the door wide open, Alex standing in it's path.

For a moment he looked slightly surprised to see her even though they must have been expecting her, but his face quickly composed itself and he pressed his lips together.

"Hey." he said, a small smile sneaking onto his face. She could feel herself blushing already.

"Hi. Is Charles in there?" she asked, trying desperately to calm the heat in her cheeks.

"Yeah, we've been waiting for you." he said, stepping aside to let her in. She tried to do something with her hands so they wouldn't look so awkward but just ended up walking straight in with them at her sides. As she passed him their arms brushed momentarily and she caught a whiff of cedar that seemed to linger on his skin like he'd been out walking in the forest.

Forcing herself to ignore it she continued through the steel door and into the bigger chamber, forcing herself not to look back even though she could feel him much closer behind her then one normally would stand. Instead her eyes turned to Charles who stood in the middle of the room, the familiar smile still splayed on his face, but this time there was a twinkle of knowing in his eye and suddenly his smile seemed to more closely resemble a smirk.

"Good morning you two." he greeted cheerily and Andrea found herself staring at her shoes for the most part. "I hope you both had a... satisfactory night's sleep last night."

Alex cleared his throat and Andrea felt her face grow even redder, wishing momentarily that Shaw would have just finished her off so she wouldn't have to stand this situation.

"Today we're going to be looking deeper into your abilities, mainly those that triggered the situation that saved all of our lives the other day." he said, and Andrea could detect some gratitude in his voice. "It appears that the more adrenaline the two of you are feeling at the time of contact, the bigger and more powerful the blast will be. Luckily we have several of these buildings at our disposal, so it won't take long and much energy to discover more about what we can do to strengthen the two of you."

They stood there for a moment until finally Andrea spoke up.

"So what exactly do you want us to do?"

"Well that in itself is up to you. I'm going to step outside while your goal..." he said, smiling, "will be to make a blast twice the size of the one you made on your first day in here."

Charles must have seen the expressions on their faces because he let out a laugh.

"Charles, you can't be serious." Alex said, mouth agape. "Something that big... there would be nothing left of the bunker."

"Well, if my theory is correct the certain type of power you're going to produce won't need to destroy it. So let's hope that works." he said slyly before turning around and opening the door.

"I'll be back when you've achieved the expectations." he called, before closing it behind him and leaving the two of them alone for the first time since last night.

There was a moments silence before Alex spoke up.

"Well this is going to be interesting."

She turned to look at him and caught him doing the same thing, even though the two of them quickly looked away the moment their eyes met.

"What does he expect us to do, exactly?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I dunno. Maybe try the same thing as last time?"

"Seriously?"

But that's what they ended up doing. In a minute, Alex stood at one end of the bunkers while Andrea shifted from foot to foot awkwardly at the other.

"Now what?" he asked, and she felt herself smile slightly. She needed to relax. This was just another day of training, nothing more. What had happened between the two of them was something they could talk about later. For now, she needed to concentrate on achieving their objective so she could leave. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, searching inside herself for the source of her power. Darkness, darkness, darkness... she needed to find the spark that would light her up. She needed fireworks...

Wait a minute.

_Fireworks_. Hadn't she just talked about this with Raven? Seeing fireworks... maybe that was what she needed to make this work.

The thought was so sudden that it seemed to trigger something inside of her. Suddenly, she felt her whole body alive- slowly charging with power.

_Oh__boy_she thought to herself. Fireworks.

"Andrea?"

She had completely forgotten about Alex as her plan fell into action. He was still standing on the opposite side of the bunker, looking at her carefully. "Are you okay?"

_Fireworks._

"Come here." she said softly, her voice carrying across the room and she watched his expression change to suspicion. "Trust me."

"I do." he said, his face calming slightly but that look of curiosity still there. She did the same, starting to walk towards him slowly. She knew she should be feeling uncomfortable. Awkward even. But all she felt was electricity, tingling on top of her skin, surging tides inside her. They were almost six feet apart when she spoke again.

"Stop."

He stopped walking and looked on, cautious of her movements but in the dim light from the florescence she could see that his power had started moving as well. He was glowing slightly and there was a ringing in the air. She kept walking towards him, her eyelids half closed.

"You're kind of freaking me out." he whispered neutrally. She was standing directly in front of him now and her eyes flickered open. "Sorry." she whispered back and saw him smile. She raised her hand slightly so it hovered over his chest and heard him inhale. The air seemed to be full of static once again, just like the first time they'd tried this. If she touched him now, she knew what would happen. There would be a blast. A blast that would rip through the wall behind her and shatter out into the open air.

But that's what she did last time.

If she wanted to double the power, she needed to find a way to enhance the power. If the tips of her fingers could cause something that strong, then what would fireworks do...

She felt a crackle under her skin and looked down. Tiny bolts of lightning slicing the space between her hovering hand and Alex's chest. She stared at it, transfixed, before casting her eyes back up to him. He was staring at her, an expression of awe transfixed on his face. She stretched herself up on her toes so their faces were only centimeters apart.

"Andrea?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"I've never met anyone like you before."

She smiled, tilting her head towards his so she could feel his breath warm on her face, smell the cedar on his skin and see every emotion she was making him feel.

"I'll take that as a compliment." she whispered, as she leaned in to kiss him.

It was electric. Literally. As if waiting for her permission, once their lips touched, he raised his hand to her face, cupping it with his palm and kissing her harder. She folded into him, letting him take over, trying to concentrate on the climax of power she was feeling inside her, trying to wait at least a moment before releasing it. He was making it almost impossible to concentrate though, with his hand caressing her face, his kisses rougher then the night before like he had stayed up all night thirsting for more. She moaned into his mouth and he pulled her closer still, barely pulling away to breathe.

"Alex..." she gasped against his mouth, but he didn't listen, clearly caught up in the kiss. She tried once more to warn him but by then it was too late. She let out a gasp through their lips and felt the power shoot out of her, charging into him. She felt his body tense as if realizing that the purpose of this was to make their powers fuse, and expected him to do the same as he had last time- tell her to get down so he could release all the energy. But he didn't move. She could feel her power inside him, and his eyes widened. They had broken the kiss but neither of their bodies could move for some reason. In a flash, panic set in. He was going to have to let that energy out soon, she knew he didn't have the control to keep it. But if they couldn't move... then it was going to hit her.

And if it hitting her was anything like it was when it hit the wall, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Just as the thought shot through her, she felt his body tense, ready for release, and she looked into his eyes. Would this be the last time? In what was just a second that seemed like eternity, she had realized that she was going to die. He must have seen it too, because his face was so panicked and agonized that she couldn't even begin to imagine how hard he was trying to control it. She felt his body lurch and knew what was coming next. In a flash of emotion, she finally felt her muscles loosen, but instead of getting out of the way- something she knew she'd have no time for- she lurched forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck, his body still frozen, and held him like he was a lifeline.

He tensed a final time and his eyes widened while hers shut.

"NO!" he yelled, but it was too late.

The moment was like before when he had triggered his power. Once again, time slowed down. She opened her eyes for a moment just to see the light from his power shoot out, joining the electricity that crackled in lightning all around the room. She felt a burning sensation in her stomach, something that must have been the power. She braced herself for the pain and then the end, which she knew would come soon. Squeezing him tighter for one last time, the blast finally came. It shot out hard, directly through his chest and into hers. She screamed, more in the fear and the power of the gesture then the pain, and felt everything leave her as she was suddenly left in darkness.

But it didn't come. The darkness she saw was just the backs of her eyelids.

She was still squeezing him and what finally made her open her eyes was that he was holding her too. Both of them breathing heavily, neither of them moving, they stood there in the middle of the bunker which was now empty of fire and lightning but all the walls appeared scorched black. That was when Andrea felt something inside her. Something full, like she had eaten to much and was ready to burst. It wasn't painful, but the feeling was unfamiliar to her. This and the fact that she found herself alive finally made her come to her senses.

"Alex..." she said, her voice cracking on his name, but he didn't let her go. "Alex, I'm alright. I'm alive."

Finally, shakily, his arms loosened and she pulled away to look at him. His eyes were wide, his face in shock, his muscles still tense as if ready to leap into action at any minute. "How...?" he said, his eyes searching as if he couldn't believe that she was here in front of him. "I don't know." she replied, equally as shocked.

They heard a screeching from behind them and jumped, Alex pulling her towards him, her hand clenched in his. Charles stood in the doorway, a look of equal surprise on his face. He walked quickly into the room, his eyes searching the walls as Andrea and Alex watched him, astounded.

"Unbelievable..." Charles was muttering to himself. "Absolutely extraordinary..."

"Charles?" Andrea asked weakly, her whole body trembling. Alex on the other hand, seemed to be feeling furious.

"Did you know that was going to happen?" he said, his tone laced with anger. "Did you have any idea that she almost _died_?"

"No, of course not." Charles said, still astounded. "I expected her to manipulate the blast- convert it into lightning. But Andrea, what you've just done... I can't begin to explain..."

"Try." she said, her heart still hammering in her chest which was still full of the feeling she had gotten from the blast.

Charles stared at the two of them, his face a mask of awe and wonder.

"You've just shown that you have the capability to have the same power..."

Alex squeezed her hand tighter.

"...as Sebastian Shaw."

**WELL. That took me forever to update, sorry guys. I've been so into my HP fic that this one has kind of been ignored :P Sorry! Anyway, this was a very _revealing_chapter I thought, and make sure to stick around. I think it's about time I lived this fic up to it's rating, so stay tuned for fun M rated times ;)**

**Thanks for all the subs and alerts, and thanks to all of you who are still sticking around :P**

**Reviews welcome, I love them all!**

**xx **

**-Cal**


	11. Swimming

"The same power as _Shaw_?" Raven exclaimed, leaning across the bed and almost getting her hair in the popcorn she was eating. "Oh my God Andrea, are you sure?"

"That's what Charles said..." she mumbled, grabbing a handful herself before shovelling it into her mouth. "It's a good thing I was able to release Alex's blast or else I'd be like a ticking time bomb." she added, remembering the events of the afternoon.

Moments after the initial shock of the news Charles had just given them in the bunker, the occurrence of the fact that Andrea still held the full power of Alex's blast kicked in and Charles was rushing her off to a safe enclosed area, leaving Alex behind in the dust to make his way back to the manor.

"When could it release?" Andrea had asked nervously as they entered the super bunker that was only used during major emergencies and could withstand up to a power level she couldn't even remember.

"Since we've never had the chance to examine a power such as yours at close hand, we can't be sure..." explained Charles hastily. "What I hope to do is once you're locked safely away in the bunker, I'll attempt to access the part of your mind holding the power in. Alex's body is immune to his own blasts so we can assume that your body will be immune to yours."

"But what's inside me isn't my blast. It's Alex's." she said, her voice rising in a panic as he positioned her inside the new bunker.

"Yes, well, let's try not to think about that right now..." Charles stated just as he reached the door and cast her a final, wistful glance before closing it properly and bolting the lock. Andrea turned to face forward, her heart beating heavily in her chest as all the panicked thoughts in the world rushed through her head making her wish she had never kissed Alex and gotten this power even though there was still something inside her that was still reeling from the kiss and the pressure he'd put into it.

"Alright Andrea, I'm going to try to reach your thoughts now. Bear with me." came Charles's voice from over the loud speakers, interrupting any of Andrea's fearful ideas. Just as he had spoken she felt a tickle in the back of her mind, something so soft it was almost a whisper. The sensation slithered through her head, weaving in and out of her brain tissue and sending the most peculiar sensation through her head as Charles searched into the depths of her consciousness for the source of her power. Nearly five minutes passed and she was beginning to feel quite dizzy when she finally felt the familiar _click _of mutant DNA latching together and Charles's voice saying _"Gotcha!" _from inside her brain when the feeling began.

It came fast- not in seemingly slow motion as it had all the other times with Alex. No, now it was fast and sharp- spirals of lightning splitting out of her bones, electrifying the very marrow of them and expanding to the tips of her hair. She jerked upwards like her spine was suddenly attached to a marionette string and someone had tried to rip it from her. Her body surged into a straight line, her chest jutting out and her fingers stretching toward nothingness while her hair jolted away from her scalp, each strand standing perfectly straight as if reaching for some unknown force.

And then it was gone; the complete sensation of being shocked out of consciousness evaporated and she felt a brief drop in her stomach before she hit the floor, her hands just barely breaking her fall, the room still alive and crackling with the remains of her blast.

A minute passed as she check herself to see if she was still in one piece- no broken bones, no bruises, not even a scratch. She let out a shaky breath of relief and raised her eyes to the ceiling, thanking whatever force out that that had done this for her life. She heard a creak to her left and looked towards the sound to see Charles sticking his head in through the enormous steel door.

"Oh good, you're alive." he beamed, taking another step into the room and clapping his hands together. "Excellent!"

She had finally finished telling the whole story to Raven that evening. After the whole day Raven had insisted that Andrea needed their previously scheduled "Girl's Night" more then anything, and honestly, Andrea couldn't help but agree with her. She'd been at the manor for nearly a month now and in that short period of time she had unlocked her powers, fought a crazed German mutant who seemed to have the hots for her and made out with a guy who she knew based on appearance alone would have made it big in L.A. So that night she made her way to Raven's room as planned, PJs tucked in her pillowcase as well as some goodies she'd hurriedly snatched from the overstocked kitchen pantry earlier in the day. Now she sat on Raven's bed, sharing popcorn and candy while she finished telling the tale of the days events.

"But oh my God!" Raven exclaimed, reaching into a bowl of Mike and Ikes. "You kissed him again!"

"This time was even better." she said, and then covered her mouth. The sugar was making her bouncy and hyper and the thoughts from the previous kiss had buzzed her even more. Raven didn't seem to mind. "He's absolutely gorgeous Rea, I'm so jealous." she beamed, reaching over to turn up the music player on the nightstand as an upbeat pop song echoed through the room.

"But what about Hank?" Andrea asked, watching Raven for a reaction. Sure enough, she choked slightly on the Cola she'd just drank but recovered quickly.

"Hank is..." she trailed off as Andrea raised her eyebrows. "Hank is Hank." she decided and dropped her gaze.

"That answers everything. Thank you for clearing that up." Andrea said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Raven hit her with a pillow.

"Ow!"

"Oh shush, it didn't hurt."

Andrea grabbed her own pillow and whipped it at Raven. It hit her square in the face and both blonds let out a laugh. The next thing they knew they were on the bed, whipping pillows at each other until there was feathers flying everywhere, the sound of cloth hitting skin sounding around the room, blending in with their laughter and the songs on the radio.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and both girls froze. The feathers around them floated down, one landing on the very tip of Andrea's nose before she could blow it away.

"Who is it?" Raven called, pillow still hoisted above her head, ready to strike.

"The men of your dreams." Came a slightly muffled voice from behind the door which they recognized instantly as Sean. Andrea stifled a laugh as Raven brought the pillow down on her head to silence her, making her let out a muffled "Ummph!"

"This is a girl's party, no boys allowed!" Raven called teasingly from the bed as she slid her legs off the side and tiptoed over to the door.

"We come bearing an invitation!" Sean called, his voice amused. Raven had reached the door and cracked it open a smidge, peering out into the hall.

"Is that so?" she asked, her eyes taking in the group. Andrea hopped off her place on the bed to join her. Through the peep hole she could make out a group of guys- Sean in the lead, bright eyed and freckled with Hank behind him looking nervous. She thought for a moment that was all but then someone shifted and she saw Alex in the back, a slightly amused expression on his face as he took in his friend's attempt at convincing.

"It is so, m'lady." Sean said bowing slightly and Andrea couldn't help but let out a laugh. "If the two of you fair maidens would be so kind as to honour us with your presence in the gardens by the fountain, we would be much obliged to show you both a good time."

"Well good sir, we may need a few minutes to prepare ourselves but if you were to provide a percentage of alcohol perhaps we would be so tempted to join you." Raven smiled slyly through the door way.

"Already taken care of my good lady!" Sean exclaimed, and Alex held up a cooler in the back, shaking it to emphasize the contents.

"Very well." Raven said, still staying in character. "We will be at the fountain in roughly ten minutes time."

"You will not be disappointed!" Sean exclaimed, turning to point down the hall. "Knights! Away!"

Raven shut the door with a click and lent against it, giving her friend a look. Andrea couldn't hold it in much longer and soon they had collapsed into a fit of giggles, falling into each other and using the walls and door to hold them up.

"Well," Andrea said through laughter, "this night just got a bit more interesting."

At precisely eleven o'clock, Andrea had dressed in plaid flannel shorts and a zip up grey hoodie and was standing at the door waiting for Raven to finally finish putting her makeup on.

"It's dark out Raven, they're not even going to be able to see our makeup!' she called from the front room as Raven knocked about in the bathroom applying mascara and foundation. Andrea had skipped the makeup step and waited, plain faced, her hair tied back into a messy ponytail.

"I need to be prepared!' Raven called from the bathroom, and finally Andrea saw the light turn off as Raven emerged, looking as dolled up and gorgeous as ever. "Come on, let's go." she beamed, her newly glossed lips shimmering while Andrea rolled her eyes.

The girls made their way along the corridors, sneaking past Charles's room which seemed to be empty, and then Erik's room where Andrea could have sworn she'd heard voices. Finally they were at the back door that led out onto the grounds and the garden. Raven pushed open the door and tip toed out into the night, her slippered feet padding silently along the gravel as Rea followed in her tennis shoes.

"The fountain's this way." Raven whispered, making a left at a shrub that had been pruned to resemble a giant X. There used to be two fountains in the gardens but after the battle with Shaw and the bigger one was destroyed the group just started calling the smaller, more modern one, "The Fountain".

The girls ran through the rows of plants and flowers until they saw a dim light up ahead and heard the dim splashing of water on water. They stepped out into the clearing by the old brass fountain, glancing round the space for their friends.

"There's nobody here…" Andrea said, glancing round but just then there was a loud shout of "BOO!" and Sean dropped out of a tree above them. Raven screeched and stumbled backwards directly into Hank who had just stepped out form behind a bush and caught her just before stumbling backwards and nearly falling in the fountain. Andrea let out a loud laugh and took a step back only to bump into something warn and solid. Turning around she was looking straight into a pair of blue eyes. Alex placed his hands on her shoulders gently to steady her and she blushed a deep red, grateful for the night that hid her face.

"Hey." he greeted, a smile spreading across his own. "You look de-charged."

She grinned at the battery pun and glanced towards the rest of the group who seemed to be heading out of the fountain plaza and down a narrow dirt trail. "Yeah, Charles took care of it for me. It was a bit of a shock, but I'm still here so that's good." she said as the two of them fell into pace beside each other, following their friends down the path towards the woods.

"I'm glad." he said, and she shot him a look noticing his serious expression. "He's too risky with you."

"Who, Charles?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I just think he likes to test his boundaries."

"Yeah, test them on us." Alex countered, his voice still mellow. "One of these days he's going to take it too far though. I just hope it's won't be on someone I know."

"You're awfully touchy about these things." she said calmly and then instantly regretted it. She could feel him tense slightly and remembered their argument in her first week.

_You're not the only one who's killed! _

She had yelled it at him in the infirmary, but she shouldn't forget the fact that he most likely _had _killed someone in his past. She knew what it was like to take a life. You never forget their face.

"By the way, where exactly are we headed?" she asked quickly to change the subject. At this his expression relaxed and he put on an expression of cluelessness.

"Ah, on that subject I've been sworn to secrecy I'm afraid. You'll have to consult the trail leader." he joked, nodding to Sean. She quirked an eyebrow and her curiosity grew deeper.

"Oi Sean!" she called to the front and watched the Ginger's face turn round. "Where are we going?"

"All in due time, m'lady!" he called back getting a curious laugh out of Raven who seemed to be sticking as closely to Hank's side as she could. "Nearly there"

They kept walking and about a minute later she felt Alex's arm brush against hers and she willed herself to make conversation.

"So…" she said awkwardly, clearing her throat. His eyes flitted in her direction and she caught a flash of memory- Alex, moaning against her mouth as she buried her fingers deeper into his hair… She blinked to snap herself out of it and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"How did you get so good?"

She immediately wanted to smack herself. This was _not _something she felt like discussing with him at that moment or linger on if he had a girlfriend or not… of course it wasn't like it mattered if he did, she told herself. He was her partner. They'd shared a kiss on the rooftop in the heat of the moment and then afterwards in the bunker because she needed her power charged. He could be in a fully fledged relationship for all she knew. He could be somebody's dad!

"Good at what?" he asked, a curious smile appearing on her face and she swore this time he could see her blushing.

"Um…" She didn't want to say it out loud for fear it would make things awkward between them. "You know."

"No, I don't. Tell me." he pressed even though she was pretty sure he got the gist of what she was trying to say.

"You just want to hear me say it." she mumbled and he let out a laugh- something she didn't hear him do often.

"You're right I do want to hear you say it. Because I've got no idea what you're talking about." he said, elbowing her.

"Ow!"

"Come on, say it." he grinned, poking her again.

"Hey, stop it!" she laughed.

"Say it!' He was poking her in the side now, sending electric currents surging through her. "I don't want to!"

"I won't stop until you do!"

She guessed they were making a racket in the back because she heard Raven's voice call from ahead of them, "Everything alright back there?"

"Alex's is attacking me!" Andrea called but Alex wrapped an arm around her shoulders and covered her mouth cutting off her laughter. "She's fine!" he called back. "Don't mind us!"

She whacked his arm and he let out another laugh this time, but left his arm draped round her shoulders.

"You two should get a move on anyhow!" Sean called from the front. "We're here!"

Alex slung his arm off her shoulders but reached for her hand and squeezed, sending a rush of happiness through her. He pulled her ahead and the two of them jogged to the front of the trail where the others were standing. Upon arrival, Andrea noticed they were quite a bit deeper into the woods that surrounded the manor then usual. They stood under a huge willow tree and faced a thick wall of it's leaves. There was a soft glow coming from behind the branches and Andrea squeezed Alex's hand to express her curiosity. He squeezed back but didn't say anything. She glanced up at him and caught him staring at her briefly before his eyes flitted away and she saw the faint colour rise to his cheeks.

"Where are we?" Raven asked, raising her hand to move the branches but Sean slapped it down.

"_This _is what we assume to be Charles's secret to staying so calm all the time." he said, reaching forwards to pull aside the branches and revealing what lay beyond it.

The group stepped into the light and Andrea couldn't help but gasp at what she was seeing. Behind the willow leaves was a tiny oasis. A natural spring pool surrounded by other willows lay at the centre, stone steps stretching down into the waters. There was a diving board attached to a ledge several feet above the pool and even a rope swing hanging down from a tree branch.

"This is amazing!" Andrea exclaimed, taking in the sight in awe. "How did Charles keep this a secret?"

"How did _I _never find this place!" Raven exclaimed, taking a step towards the pool as the others followed.

Sean just shrugged and the next thing she knew he was pulling his sweater over his head and tossing it on the stone floor. Raven raised her eyebrows and Andrea could help but admire his lean frame and milky pale skin. She saw the beginning ridges of a six back and when he caught her looking he grinned causing her to blush. He wasn't the only one who'd noticed though. Alex was giving her a strange look which she quickly tried to ignore by turning her attention to the loud splash that had just come from the pool.

Sean's head appeared in a ripple, shaking his red curls like a dog and splattering water everywhere.

"Come on in! The water's warm!"

Raven let out a laugh and without hesitation, stripped off her tee shirt, revealing her curves and DD cup breasts clad in a bright purple bra. Sean let out a wolf whistle from the water and she wiggled her hips and she slid off her pyjama bottoms. She took a running leap towards the edge of the pool and screamed as she jumped into the water, making a splash before surfacing and laughing before joining Sean in the deep end where he tread water and called to the others; "Don't be shy, we won't laugh! Come on!"

From beside her, Alex rolled his eyes but did as Sean asked. Andrea tried not to stare but couldn't help it. He reached for the hem of his shirt and seemed to pull it off almost slowly as if to tempt her further. She watched the pale skin of his back appear as he pulled the shirt over his head. The sight of the hard ridges of muscle and the curves of his shoulder blades sent a feeling through her that was ten times more different then when she had looked at Sean. Now there was only Alex. He turned around to far her and her eyes immediately shot to his abs, clean and ridged along his toned torso. She got the overwhelming sensation to run her fingers across them and feel the muscles in his chest but knew she'd have to keep her head if she were to so much as talk to him when he was like this.

She forced her eyes up to his face and was embarrassed to see him watching her, a smile dominant in his expression reassuring his assumptions that she was impressed. She hoped that was all he noticed and that there was no way he could find out how turned on she was. Turning his back to her he walked along to one of the steeper edges and dived into the water. When he arose his hair was wet and slicked back from his face, his expression taunting, daring her to jump in. She heard another splash to her right and saw Hank join the group, his glasses fogged up by the heat of the water, wearing a slightly baffled expression. From the corner of her eye she could see Raven taking in his surprisingly not-so-scrawny appearance when Sean let out a final call.

"Don't be a prude Andrea, join the party!"

She took a second to take in her friends, all in their underwear, enjoying the water and waiting for her. Back home in L.A. no one would ever have called her a prude. She was attractive enough but she didn't flaunt it, instead choosing to keep her distance from most of the guys who made their moves, as she'd had enough bad experiences to last her a lifetime. But there in the woods, surrounded by friends who cared for her, she decided it was finally time to let loose.

"Oh what the hell…" she muttered to herself, dropping her shorts as her friends let out a whoop from the pool, clapping and making splashes. She kicked the bottoms aside, thankful that she'd remembered to shave her legs the night before and reached to pull off her top. She felt the cool air hit her stomach as she lifted it over her head and saw the goosebumps rise on her flat abdomen. Chucking the shirt to the side, she stood there shyly, clad in nothing but her white lace bra and undies.

"You should wear underwear more often." Raven said, clearly impressed by her friend's body while Raven blushed. She looked over at Alex and her pleasure deepened even more so at seeing his expression. He couldn't take his eyes off her, not even bothering to look away when she caught him. She didn't hesitate to get into the water now, and instead took a running jump and cannonballed in, making a huge splash and drenching everyone. She swam over to her friends who were all treading water and laughing about what else Charles must use this space for in the winter time. The image of Charles on an ice skating rink doing pirouettes was enough to make everyone hysterical.

At one point someone brought up the idea of playing Marco Polo. The came commenced and went on for a good ten minutes until Andrea was tagged by a thrashing Hank, desperate to get out of his turn. She closed her eyes and proceeded to float around the space they had decided to use, calling out the words.

"Marco!" she called and heard a "Polo!" somewhere far to her right. She continued to swim forwards and called again; "Marco!"

Suddenly she hit someone solid, her outstretched hands colliding with a warm, hard surface. She flitted her eyes open in shock and glanced down to where they had landed- directly on Alex's chest.

Slowly she raised her eyes to his, seeing his expression was as cocky as ever. "No peeking." he murmured so only she could hear, and she felt a rush of warmth shoot through her lower abdomen. "I know the rules." she murmured back, surprising herself with the husky tone that had been added to her voice. Slowly she slid her hand higher across his chest and tapped her finger on his collarbone. "You're it."

His pupils were dilated to their full extent and as she turned to go she felt his fingertips graze her side, sending a burst of pleasure through her nerves that added straight to the lightheadedness she had recently gotten.

Another twenty minutes or so passed and they grew tired of Marco Polo and continued on to other games. It was nearing midnight when during a round of "Biggest Splash" contest, there was the crackling of a loudspeaker from somewhere that caused all of them to jump and Raven to drop the beer she had gotten from the cooler some time earlier. The static burst for a second longer when an exhausted voice came out of the hidden speakers.

"It's gotten rather late, and you all have training in the morning so I would recommend that you get back up to the house and at least ask me next time if you're going to use my private pool." spoke a weary sounding Charles. "That is all. Goodnight."

The group all exchanged looks until finally Andrea spoke.

"What I'd like to know is where he's keeping the camera." she stated to the laughter of her fellow mutants.

The group made their way back up the the manor as quietly as they could, or at least as quietly as was possible for a group of slightly intoxicated teenagers. They let themselves in the back way and ended up in the kitchen where Sean hastily returned the cooler back in the pantry where he'd found it before saying goodnight to his friends.

"We should do this again sometime." he said, winking at the girls. "I especially enjoyed the view."

"Go to sleep you pervert." Raven joked, whacking his arm as he let out a laugh and disappeared around the hall. The rest of them said goodnight and headed back to their proper rooms. Andrea took the stairs two at a time after departing, her head full of water and thoughts of Alex, sure that she'd have plenty good things to dream about that night when she arrived at her door and froze. Hastily, she reached down to her shorts and patted her pockets, checking for the familiar feel of the object she was searching for. They were empty.

"_Fuck."_ she swore under her breath thinking back. In an instant she remembered. She's left her room key in the cooler as not to forget it or have it fall out of her pyjama pocket when she was swimming. Little good that had done her. She let out a groan of frustration and turned on her heel towards the staircase she had come from, trying again not to make any more noise then she needed too. She padded down one stair at a time until she reached the corner. Rounding it quickly she came inches away from smacking into a dark figure who seemed to be walking towards her in the shadows. She let out a sharp gasp at the sight and backed into a wall, smacking the back of her head.

"_Jesus!" _she cried when a light was flicked on and she saw who had been standing there. Alex stood in the doorway, a slightly surprised, slightly amused expression etched on his face from finding her here in the stairwell. Her heart was pounding too heavily for her to decide what she was feeling yet.

"You scared the shit out of me!" she whispered, exasperated.

"Sorry." he said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh. He held up a bronze key that she instantly recognized. "I was just coming to find you actually. You left this in the cooler."

"I was just coming to get it, thanks." she said, reaching out for the key but instead of handing it over, his hand snapped back and he held it out of her reach. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Before I give this too you," he started, his voice still teasing but holding something more that she couldn't quite place. "you have to do me a favour."

She raised both eyebrows now. "Oh really." she said, crossing her arms even though this game had her seriously turned on. "And what might that be?"

He smiled. "You have to clarify your question from earlier." he said, his grin screaming victory. "The one asking about how I 'got to be so good'."

"I don't see what there is to clarify." she said, her voice now seemingly hoarse as her cheeks warmed. "I thought I as being perfectly clear."

"Andrea," he sighed, her name on his lips sending a shiver through her. He took a step forward and leaned in closer so their faces were only inches apart. "How I got so good at _what_?" he asked, his voice finally revealing that sound she had been trying to place earlier. It was filled with desire, and she was helpless against it. There, in the stairwell, in the dark, he tilted his head to the side, waiting for her answer.

"How did you get so good at kissing?" she whispered, her question barely audible to her own ears. A slow smile grew on his face and he leaned in even closer. "I could ask you the same thing." he whispered.

"Practice." she said, and then kicked herself for speaking without thinking again, except instead of taking it awkwardly he just laughed. "Yeah…" he said, reaching a hand forward and touching it lightly to the side of her face, just above where her scar started. "I could do with some of that."

She didn't know if it was the gentleness in which he touched her or the look he gave her or the tone of his voice that finally did it, but those words were the key to what she'd been waiting for. She reached out blindly and wrapped her hands in the fabric of his shirt, pulling him forwards. He took that final step that separated them and caught her lips in his, kissing her with all he'd had bottled up in him since that morning. She gasped against his lips and pulled him closer, feeling one of his arms wrap around her waist and another snake into her hair, cradling her head so it wouldn't hit the wall. He kissed her again and again, each time deeper then the last, and she reached out for him, her hand sliding through his golden hair, moving down over his neck and across his shoulders until they rested on his chest. She kissed him deeper and in a flurry of desire, ran her tongue along his bottom lip, pleading for entrance. He obliged and opened his mouth to her, feeling her warm breath every where as they gasped and breathed in each others kisses and need. She felt him bite down on her bottom lip and pull gently, an action that made her knees weak and quiver. He seemed to sense this because the next thing she knew he had pushed her up against the stone wall so that every part of their bodies were touching.

"Alex…" she groaned as he kissed her again, silencing her plea for more. Instead her hands scrambled down his chest and torso to where the hem of his shirt fluttered between them. Her fingers wrapped around it and tugged once, telling him what she wanted to do.

He didn't even break the kiss, just simply went along with it as she pulled the shirt upwards, revealing his abs and then his chest. He raised his arms and threw the shirt aside leaving nothing but his bare chest free for her to explore. Her fingers trailed hungrily along his chest, leaving trails of fire wherever they touched and making him hungry for more. Finally they landed at his abs and she raked her fingers over them hungrily, treasuring each ridge and shock of pleasure that ran through her as she touched them. In a moment of passion, he pulled his lips away from hers to kiss at her neck hungrily, nipping his way down to her collarbone, his finger's tugging at her shirt.

"Fabric's in the way." he growled huskily, biting down on her skin in a way that she was sure would leave a mark.

"Get rid of it then." she gasped, chest heaving due to the pleasure she was feeling. She felt him smile against her skin as he did as he was told, sliding the thin material up over her head to reveal her slightly damp bra, the lace lying flat against her skin. Finally, he broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, both of them breaking heavily. His eyes trailed over her body, so full of lust it was setting her on fire.

"Alex." she whispered, running a hand over his stomach once again and feeling thrill just by doing so. "Touch me."

She didn't have to ask him twice. In an instant his lips were back on her neck, worshipping her while his hands slid gently across the curves of her body. First her shoulders, then her hips and finally with just a second's hesitation; her breasts. She gasped when he touched them, his fingers toying carefully with the lace and squeezing them in all the right places. She felt him position his thumbs over her nipples and rub gently sending the biggest gust of pleasure she had felt yet, causing her to moan his name which of course made him rub faster. In a flurry of need she found she couldn't contain herself- she tilted her hips and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling his pelvis closer towards hers. He let out a low groan. "Andrea." he whispered, squeezing her breasts again and she moaned louder under his touch.

"I need you." she whispered to him and felt him nod against her shoulder. "I need more of you."

"If I may interrupt, I think that's quite enough."

A light flicked on and the two of them froze, Alex's lips still on her neck, her hands still tangled in his hair. Over his shoulder in the doorway she could make out the silhouette of a robed figure who stepped into the light. It was Erik.

Quick as a whip she dropped her legs from Alex's waist and pressed herself against the wall willing her body to disappear due to embarrassment. Alex was in a similar position and looked like he was hoping for the same thing.

"Although I do love mutant appreciation, I think you two might be taking it to the next level so to speak." Erik said, a hint of a held in laugh to his sarcastic remark. "So I've decided that if you both return to your rooms right now, I'll forget this ever happened."

They were gone before Erik had even turned the light out.


	12. Feeling New

"Where did you disappear to last night?" Raven asked the following morning as Andrea stumbled into the kitchen, her hair disheveled and sleepwear worn with wrinkles. She walked drearily over to the espresso machine and pressed the number seven button, watching through sleepy eyes as it started making her latte. "I could have sworn I'd heard you wandering the hall at one point." Rave continued, watching her friend with suspicious eyes.

"Yeah, I forgot my key and had to go back and get it..." Andrea mumbled, trying desperately to ignore the heated memories from the previous night.

"Mmhmm." Raven smiled, lowering her eyes into her coffee. Andrea turned towards her friend slowly, her eyes glaring.

"What?"

"Noooothing." she singsonged, blinking her blue eyes innocently, a lipstick smile spreading over her face. Suddenly realization dawned on Andrea's face. She let out a gasp and almost dropped her coffee, one hand flying to cover her mouth in shock. "Oh my GOD!" she yelled, while Raven's face dropped form a smile to a startled expression. "What?"

"It was _you!_ You changed yourself into Erik last night! Oh my GOD, _RAVEN!"_

"What are you talking about, I was in my room all night!" Raven replied, clearly looking bewildered. Andrea froze.

"Oh." she said curtly, turning back to her coffee to hide her blushing face. "Oops."

"_Oops? _You accuse me of God knows what and all you have to say is _oops?_"

Andrea winced. "Yes?"

"Okay, now you have to tell me." Raven said briskly, crossing her legs at the table, clearly waiting for an explanation. She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow in an expression that practically screamed 'details!'.

"I may or may not have hooked up with Alex again last night..." she mumbled, scratching the back of her leg with her other foot, her eyes not meeting Raven's. She heard her friend let out a laugh.

"I _knew it_!" she trilled, leaning back in the chair and crossing her hands behind her head. "_Knew it!_ You two are seriously going to have to do some adult talking sooner or later or else all this making out is going to get real old real fast."

"Tell me about it." Andrea groaned. "I keep wanting to talk, but every time we..."

"Hook up?"

"Can we _please _not call it that?"

"Tis what it's called and I shant say it any other way." Raven said smugly, crossing her arms over her chest. Andrea let out a huff and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"Fine. Well whenever we 'hook up'," She glared at Raven. "...we always end up getting interrupted."

"Wait a minute." Raven said, sitting up in her chair. "You thought... oh my God did Erik walk in on you guys?"

Andrea felt her face heat up and knew she was blushing scarlet. Raven let out a cackle and quickly fell into hysterics.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Andrea whisper-shrieked, rushing over to her and whacking her arm repeatedly while Raven continued to howl with laughter. "It's not funny, it was awful! You have no idea how embarress-"

"Good morning ladies."

Andrea froze mid-hit and stared at who had just entered the kitchen while Raven continued to giggle. Sean, Hank and Alex had just walked through the door fully dressed, as opposed to Andrea and Raven who were still in their pyjamas.

Andrea couldn't help herself- she glanced up at Alex and immediately he caught her eye. "Cute shorts." he grinned, observing the boy shorts she so often wore to bed. "Thanks." she mumbled, trying to hide her blush as Sean whirled around from the fridge.

"You ladies ready for another day of adventure?" he asked, taking a bite out of an apple, this time spraying Hank with the juice just as he had Raven a few days before.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked, obviously intrigued.

"He means, Charles decided to give us a day off." Alex said, glancing around at his friends, his gaze finally landing on Andrea. "Figured we'd deserved it after this week."

Andrea stared back until Raven let out an excited squeal from beside her.

"This is fantastic! I've been dying to get out of this fortress." she beamed, getting up from the table.

"Yeah, it should be fun." Sean said, although there sounded like there was a "but" in there somewhere. "Except... we don't really have anywhere else to go. It's not like we know this place very well."

To this, Raven let out a snort. "Speak for yourselves." she snorted, tossing her hair back over one shoulder. "I've been in this state practically my whole life. If anyone knows how to have a good time here, it's me. I am going to make sure you all have one hell of a time." she smiled deviously. "Now come on, it's a about an hour's drive to NYC and the day isn't going any slower!"

Moments later Raven flung open her bedroom door and promptly disappeared into the walk-in closet, Andrea waiting close behind.

"Raven, can't I just wear my normal clothes?" Andrea asked timidly from behind her friend, who seemed to be throwing garments left and right. "Absolutely not!" Raven called from deep inside the room. "This is 1962 darling, and we are going to New York City! I won't have you looking drab!"

Andrea rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed, not having any clue to what Raven would pull out for her to try on. "I think we should dress to match, don't you? It would be adorable!" Raven suggested to Andrea's horror.

"What, like the same everything?"

As she asked the question, Raven emerged from the clothes cave with armfuls of dresses, pants and tops slung over her shoulders. On her head she wore an identical replica of what looked like one of Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats. "We haven't got much time." she beamed, blowing a wave of hair out of her face. "So I suggest you get changed fast. I'll heat up the curling iron."

Andrea didn't like to admit it, but this was all a first for her. Back in LA she'd never been able to afford anything remotely fashionable, and here was Raven; stylish and savvy, laying out outfits for Andrea in all different shades of pastel. "Try this." Raven said, flinging a salad green miniskirt her way along with a hideously ruffled floral top. Andrea only had to make one face for Raven to know it wasn't for her.

"You're right, too hippy." Raven clucked, snatching the outfit back. "How about you get started on your hair while I find something more feminine."

Andrea glanced over to the vanity where there seemed to be dozens upon dozens of drawers, all containing pounds of makeup she had no clue how to put on. Her eyes fell upon the curling iron and she swallowed. She's most likely maim herself before doing any attractive work with it. Instantly from behind her she heard Raven stop ruffling through clothes. She forced herself to meet her friend's eyes, attempting to hide her clueless nerves. Raven it turned out, could see right through her.

"Oh honey." she smiled, getting up and walking over to her friend. "Sit down. I'll take care of everything." She gave Andrea a devilish smile that for a moment had her worried that maybe she's have been better off with a good maiming after all.

Half an hour later, Andrea stood in front of Raven's floor length mirror, remotely speechless at the transformation her friend had performed. Most of the time had been spent on Andrea's hair, which now resembled a magazine-perfect curled coiffure, complete with the bump of volume at the back. Raven had dressed her in a powder blue, sleeveless PVC dress along with white go-go boots and her own white pillbox hat to top it all off. As for makeup, Raven had spared no expense with the eyeliner and fake lashes, even topping it off with the latest shade of _Shadow Creme_'s sky blueeyeshadow.

"And like I said before..." announced Raven from the back, coming to stand beside her friend in a identical outfit except in cotton candy pink. "...dressed to match."

Just as she concluded her phrase, there was a beeping from the speaker in the wall to their right, and a voice came on over the intercom.

"Hey Raven, I though you said we were in a hurry! We're all ready to go!" came Sean's whiny voice from the other end.

"We'll be down in a second, Cassidy. True beauty takes patience." she quipped back through the speaker, muting it so she wouldn't be able to hear his sarcastic remark. "Ready to show your boyfriend what he's missing out on?" she asked Andrea, smiling shyly. She felt her cheeks burn red. "He's _not _my boyfriend." she mumbled, following a laughing Raven out of her bedroom and in the direction of the foyer. Once they approached the staircase to the entrance hall, Andrea stopped at the top and couldn't help but smile. There in the foyer, unknown to their observers, stood Hank, Sean and Alex. They were better dressed then Andrea had ever seen in her life. They all wore casual suits; Hank's brown, Sean's black and Alex's dark grey. Sean and Alex had loosened their ties and were fiddling with something Hank had just shown them, full engaged in the toy. Raven raised a penciled eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip, clearing her throat loudly to get their attention. The boys jumped and whirled to the source of the sound, suddenly stopping in their actions to stare, open mouthed, at the two girls before them.

After a heat beat of silence, Hank was the first to break it.

"Wow." he breathed, a goofy smile sliding onto his face. Raven broke into a grin and started her descent down the stairs, the heels of her boots clicking on each step of the marble. Andrea felt the corner of her mouth twitch up at Raven's confident expression, but then she noticed Alex's. He was still staring at her like before. Wide eyed, like he was in awe. She felt the blush creep up her neck as Sean walked over to his friend and tapped him under the chin, forcing him to close his gaping mouth. Alex blushed, and made his way towards the staircase as Andrea descended. As she reached the bottom step, he offered his hand. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she took it, leaning on him for balance in the thick heeled boots she still hadn't gotten used to.

"You look..." Alex couldn't seem to be able to finish his sentence, he was still staring.

"Like a blueberry?" she smiled, attempting humor but unfortunately she felt her nerves shine through. She'd never felt so naked as she did like this. She was usually one to dress down, blend into the crowd. Now that she stood out like this, she felt as if everyone could see right through her.

"I believe the words Alex is looking for are smoking hot." Sean said, stepping in. He slid his arm through Andrea's left one, hooking it around the crook. On his other arm was Raven, who was also linked to Sean. Andrea looped her arm through Alex's to complete the chain just as she heard footsteps on the stairs. The teens turned round to see Charles and Erik watching them from the stairs. Andrea couldn't help avoiding Erik's eyes and quickly noticed Alex doing the same. Erik on the other hand, seemed to be watching them like a hawk.

"Don't be too late." Charles smiled from his spot on the stairs. "Noon tomorrow at the latest."

"You're too easy on us Charles." Raven beamed from her spot in the line. "You assume we'll even return at all." she winked, and with a final wave the group exited the building, still arm in arm as they made their way towards the cars that were waiting to take them into the city.

"They grow up so fast." Erik said sarcastically as he took in the rarely quiet building.

"Next thing you know they'll be starting families and saving the world." Charles chucked, watching Erik as he flick his fingers to lock the metal bolt on the door.

The first thing Andrea affiliated with New York City was how different it was from LA. First of all, where LA seemed to stretch on for miles, New York was the complete opposite with it's skyward buildings and tall towers. It had a more upright, studious feeling to it them LA did. Instead of the bright, bold colours of LA, Andrea noticed more and more dark suits and buissness attire. _City of work, city of leisure. _She thought, comparing the two. After an hour of driving, the big city sights was an amazing sight to see.

"Where to first?" Sean asked from his seat in the car where he was loosening his tie for the millionth time.

"I thought we'd grab lunch, then go for a walk in Central Park." Raven beamed. "Get the full NYC experience, if you know what I mean." she said, winking at Andrea, unaware that the joke flew well over her head.

The group exited their car at 62 Thomas street, in front of gorgeous stone arches over crystal windows. Andrea blinked in the afternoon light until her eyes fell upon the red and black sign hanging elegantly in front of one of the arches. Oriental symbols framed the sign as Sean read out the english title beside her.

"Megu?" he asked, casting a weary glance at Raven. "You're not going to poison us with puffer fish are you?"

"Oh relax Cassidy. It won't hurt you to try a little variety." Raven said, rolling her eyes dramatically as the friends entered the Japanese restaurant. Andrea was completely taken aback at the modern feel of the place. There was red and black everywhere. Oriental decor draped all the black glass table tops while exotically dressed women waltzed from table to table, serving everything from regular sushi to the chef's signature Botan Ebi. An ancient oriental man showed them to their table, a private booth, towards the back of the room where they all fit in together snugly. Andrea had never in her life been in a place so striking. The old man left them with their menus and they all took time discussing the different dishes, none of which Andrea had ever really heard of.

"What about this, Andy." Raven suggested from beside her, leaning over to show her her menu. "Diamond tuna rolls. They have Akami, Chu Toro and Oh Toro."

"Um..." Andrea started, her eyes wandering over the menu. She tried to find a description of what the dish was exactly, but all her eyes seemed to land on were the prices. She was trying her hardest not to bolt out of the restaurant right then.

Just as she was getting to the prices for sushi platters, she felt something nudge her foot under the table. Once, then twice. Trying to be discreet, she glanced around at her friends to see who was the culprit, but everyone was fully interested in their menu. She felt another nudge with the foot and this time the person hooked her ankle in theirs. Letting a warning tone emit from her throat, she felt around the ankle with her foot, feeling the fabric of a pant leg. Suddenly from across the table she saw Alex's bright blue eyes glance up to meet hers. He was holding back a smile. Quirking her eyebrow smugly, she nudged back once. His eyes glanced back down to his menu and she saw him subconsciously bite his lip, which immediately sent chills through her. She truly wanted him, _so bad_, especially after last night when he gave her a taste of what he could do. She felt a flash of heat shoot through her lower abdomen and crossed her legs hastily to distract herself from what she was feeling. Sneaking another quick glance up at him, she saw him watching her again and immediately noticed the lust in his eyes, which did nothing but drive her even crazier. A thought occurred to her then. If he could drive her so wild with just one look, she had to wonder exactly what she was able to do to him. Tilting her head down slightly, she glanced up at him through the thick fake eyelashes Raven had applied with so much effort, being sure to bat them a few times. His expression was priceless. His smile was still there, but his mouth rested slightly open, so she knew she had him riveted. Taking extra care, she slowly reached forward and took a long drink from her water, sucking on the straw while still not breaking eye contact. To finish it off, she glanced casually off to the side and bit down on her own lip just as he had, making sure to get the message across. _I want you_.

From the opposite end of the table, she heard him exhale loudly. It had worked.

Then suddenly from beside her she heard Raven clear her throat loudly. Immediately Andrea felt herself blush as she turned round to see Raven's shaming expression. She had been watching the whole time.

And yet as if to save the moment, just as Raven opened her mouth, one of the waitresses arrived to serve the appetizers. In the jumble of moving around places, Raven leaned in towards her friend to mutter in her ear. "I know you're into him but you might want to take it down a notch, tiger. You were practically fucking him with your eyes. I think even Hank was getting flustered."

Blushing heavily, Andrea glanced over at Hank who sure enough, was avoiding her eyes as obviously as if she were Medusa. Which of course made the whole meal all the more uncomfortable.

Against Andrea's expectations, she had to finally admit that the meal was delicious. She'd never experienced so many different flavors from one culture all together, and felt that if it weren't for the extravagant prices (which Raven payed for with Charles's credit card), she would be eating there every week.

"Ready for our next destination?" Raven asked, just as the group slid out of their booth, stomachs full while popping free mints in their mouths to get rid of the fishy aftertaste.

"I just need to use the ladies." Andrea put in hastily. She had a feeling all the eyeliner Raven had applied was smudged and had half a mind to just go in and take it all off. She pushed open the red door to the woman's washroom and walked over to the mirror, leaning in to observe her eyes. Just as she'd guested, the charcoal black was smudged in the corner. She reached a finger up and tried to rub it off her skin, but the colour wouldn't budge.

"It comes off better with water."

Andrea jumped at the sound of a voice. She looked up in the mirror to see the reflection of an unfamiliar woman standing behind her, leaning against the counter casually. She was blond with piercing blue eyes, not unlike Alex's, except there was something colder in them that Andrea couldn't put her finger on. The woman was dressed exquisitely in knee high white go-go boots, identical to Andrea's except hers looked much more expensive, along with a white mini skirt and white halter top that revealed way too much of her cleavage in Andrea's opinion.

"Thanks." she said evenly, turning on the tap to wet her finger and proceeded to wipe it across the smudge. It came off instantly.

"_Shadow Creme _doesn't make it's products like they used to." the woman mused, tucking a wave of hair behind her ear and walking over to the sink to observe her own makeup. "That's a cute dress, by the way."

"Thanks." Andrea said again. Then, feeling as if she should add something she blurted out, "Your top's nice."

"You think so?" the woman asked, stepping back to admire herself. "A friend gave it to me. He likes to see me show skin." she added, winking.

"Seems... nice." Andrea said awkwardly. "Well, um, I should probably go. Nice chatting with you."

She turned hastily away and headed quickly towards the door. Just as she was about to open it though, she could have sworn she'd heard the woman behind her speak. "I'll be seeing you soon." But when Andrea turned around, she was gone.

She exited the powder room and stood for a moment in the empty waiting room outside. There were beads hanging across the entrance way and a bonsai tree on the dark wooden table in front of a long mirror. The lunch crowd had passed and left the restaurant nearly abandoned. She was relieved for the time alone to catch her thoughts. She hadn't been outside the manor grounds since that flight from L.A. It was a relief to get some fresh air, move around a little. Even though she wasn't exactly comfortable in her current get up, she had to admit she looked nice. Raven had done a good job.

She was about to turn to go when she remembered her purse back on the counter in the bathroom. She quickly went back in, grabbed her purse and took a look around. The woman in white who had been there only moments earlier still was nowhere to be found. Cautiously, Andrea made her way back out of the room, casting an extra glance over her shoulder just as the door closed.

"Hey."

She jumped at the voice and whirled around to face the speaker. Immediately upon recognition, her heart stuttered and her body tingled all over. Alex was standing in the entrance way to the waiting room, his tie loosened around his collar and his sleeves rolled up high enough that she could see the lean muscles in his forearms. His hair had grown out slightly since they'd first met, and now stuck out at odd angles making him appear all the more rugged. As their eyes met, he gave her a slow grin and she felt her heart start beating twice as fast as he took a step towards her. "Raven was wondering what was taking so long, so she sent me in here to check on you."

"Oh." was all she could manage to say. She stood across from him now and could see the light in his eyes grow darker, swallowed by his dilated pupils. _Say something else! Anything! _her head screamed. "That was nice of her." she said finally, and then mentally kicked herself for how stupid she sounded. Although from the look of things, Alex hadn't seemed to notice, let alone mind. How was she supposed to get out any sort of intelligent sounding sentence with him standing so close to her. She could practically smell the cedar on his skin and the mint on his tongue. He was so close, that all she wanted to be able to do was reach out and touch him...

"Andrea." he said, his voice so full of lust and desire that she found herself closing the gap between them without being conscious of it. He seemed to have been going for the same thing, because they met each other half way. Their lips crushed together in a fusion of eagerness, her hands flying to his chest, his wrapping around her waist, pressing her closer. All the tension that had been bottled up between them in those hours apart spilled out and was expressed in their eager kisses. All the words not spoken were told through small sighs and caresses, awkwardness abandoned. She cupped his face in her hands, kissing him deeper, his tongue probing at her lips which opened graciously. She ran her hands through his hair, feeling every strand lightened by hours in the sun, dazzlingly soft against her fingers. He moaned into her mouth, his hand sliding up the side of her, tracing the curves of her body and memorizing them.

"I changed my mind..." he murmured into her mouth between kisses. "...I hate this dress." She felt herself grin against his lips as he nipped at her mouth once again, pleading for more. Feeling bold, she took a step forwards and pressed him to the wall, running her hand up his muscled chest until her fingers came to wrap around his tie. She tugged and felt his face come even closer to hers, a low growl of desire emitting from his throat. "I like the tie." she whispered huskily. "But the rest of the suit can go..." As if to make her point, she lowered her hand to his pants and rested it lightly on the ever growing bulge in the middle. The sound he made next was almost primal as he slid one hand up into her hair, cradling the back of her head while his kisses traveled hungrily from her mouth to her neck and then her collar bone. To add even more expression to what he was feeling, he took a step away from the wall and spun them around so that now it was her back pressed against the red wallpaper. She let out a long sigh of desire as he kissed her, every nerve in her body seemingly on fire. Suddenly from outside the room, there was a knock on the wall. Andrea froze where she was, Alex pausing while his lips hovered just above her neck, their bodies still pressed together.

"Miss Raven would like to know when you are finished." came the voice of one of the exotic waitresses, followed by the clicking of her heels as she turned and walked away. Once she was sure she was gone, Andrea brought her eyes up to Alex's once again. They simply stood there for a moment, soaking each other in, breathing in their scents and tastes.

"We should go." Andrea finally said, softly. She couldn't bring herself to look away.

"Look, Andrea. About last night-"

"You don't have to say anything." she interrupted. He raised an eyebrow in question. "It was nice." she blurted out, and then felt herself blush. If he was trying to apologize for some reason, she didn't want to make him feel as if she had been unwilling. "I mean, obviously it was more then nice. It was fantastic, but-"

"That's not what I meant." he said, grinning at her obvious embarrassment. She swallowed, not quite sure what to expect from him next. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Last night was... amazing. I've never felt a connection like that before, and that wasn't the only time. It was amazing that night on the roof and in the bunker, even though Charles _was _technically watching through the cameras..."

Andrea let slip a smile.

"...and right now. What just happened. _This, _Andrea. This is amazing. Except we've never really talked about it and I..." He trailed off, seeming embarrassed and hesitant to continue. He was being so open, so honest, that Andrea couldn't help but feel attachment she'd never felt before for anyone. On a whim, she lent in and kissed him softly, pulling away just to see his surprised expression. He let out the rest of his sentence in a rush, seeming to have found his voice.

"I don't want to be 'that guy'". I don't want to be the person who hooks up with you and then leaves. Believe me, I've been him before and it gets really old, fast. I don't just want to be some guy in your life. I want to give what we have a shot."

When he stopped talking, he stared at her waiting for an answer. Andrea stood speechless. He, Alex, was someone who a year ago she would never have imagined having these feeling for. He was beautiful and brave and sometimes even moody, but he was perfect to her. He'd saved her life. He cared about her. And she cared about him too.

She turned away to glance towards the door frame, listening for the footsteps of people in the hall outside. Then without a second thought, turned back to him and took his hand.

"Then let's go." she said smiling, squeezing him hand and watching his face light up as the two of them walked into the hallway. They didn't say anything as they turned the corner, hand in hand, but in the last few seconds before they headed into the entrance room to meet their friends, Andrea couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere, someone was watching her.

**So I actually remembered for once that this fic takes place in the 60s :P I did a bunch of research into 1960's women's fashions and came up with Andrea and Raven's outfits through it. _Shadow Creme _was even a legit 60s makeup company, and MEGU is also a real japanese restaurant in New York. Every bit of food they discuss is even on the MEGU lunch menu :) So like I said, lots of research in this one. **

**SOMETHING IMPORTANT is that I've actually got two fics going on right now, this one and a HP one. Since I've been getting a lot of recent inspiration and feedback from the HP one, I will be taking a brief hiatus from _Tempest _to try and finish up the first fanfic. Once I'm done, I'll try not to start anything until I've finished _Tempest. _I wanna thank you guys so much for your favs and alerts as well as your reviews which I LOVE reading. I leave you now with a question: I've been thinking into possibly writing a sex scene or two later on in this fic. But since I've never done it before, it might be a bit... shaky? Ahaha I'm not sure, but god knows I've read enough of them ;) Do you think I should give it a try or back off for awhile?**

**I'll hopefully be writing Andrea and Alex again soon! Thanks again for all you amazing support!**

**xx**

**-Cal**


End file.
